Silver Wind
by PsychicPunch
Summary: After moving into a lowly populated town, Amy Rose is determined to unravel something about the cocky Sonic the Hedgehog. She feels it is her destiny that brought her to him, but still chooses to doubt herself until she discovers the secrets of her blue hedgehog. Problems rise from the suspicious Doctor Eggman as Amy finds herself coming closer to the truth of Sonic the Hedgehog.
1. Prologue

**Critics are more than welcomed but no hate. "_No offense but this story smells like burnt cookies..._" - That counts as hate**

**Keep in mind that some answers to any questions may be answered through out the story so it is better to read on. **

**Most characters in this belong to Archie or Sega. (Obviously...)**

**Now here is my prologue...**

* * *

><p>"My brave little boy," an older lady whispered under her breath as she looked upon her youngest and last son. Aleena smiled as wrinkles of joy formed in the edges of her eyes. She loved every one of her children. All were the most beautiful things in her eyes. She cherished the moment of the evening when after Sonia and Manic have already began their long slumber, the birds stopped chirping as grasshoppers begin to hum, and her baby boy is tired and needs sleep.<p>

Aleena continued to smile and was about to turn away when she heard a wail come from the crib. The crib was light blue to show the child was a boy. Aleena pushed her purple quills over her shoulders before gently reaching out to pull her baby close to her. His eyes were scrunched and puffy, surrounded by tears.

"Don't cry," she cooed the baby. Her son looked up at her, both of their emerald green eyes meeting each other. "I'm not leaving you, my angel. I will always be here." Her son didn't stop his cries after Aleena's soothing whispers.

She still smiled, not bothered by the late night interruption. With the child in her arms, she slowly rocked back and forth, bouncing the boy to a steady rhythm.

"_Silver breeze, let it go_

_Don't shy away from your greatest foe_

_Stand tall with pride_

_All worries had died_

_I'll bite my tongue _

_'Till the morning sung_

_Oh how I wished for my lovers kiss_

_But I knew, it was all just imagined bliss_

_Silver breeze, gone so long_

_And I heard the morning song"_

Aleena smiled once more at the content face of her sleeping son. He was so peaceful. She knew her lullaby gave him peace, he was always out half way through the song. Aleena was glad she could pass such an ancient song in her family down to her own children and off to other friends. It always cleared her mind when she herself was once young and flustered often. Aleena yearned for the day her mother would come back from the grave and sang to her once more. A day that could never come.

Aleena's smile soon turned sad. She closed off her thoughts before she would start to weep.

Aleena laid down her baby in the crib. She pulled the small sheets up to his belly, not wanting to risk her child suffocating from under the blankets. Any protective mother would do that.

She bent over, kissed his forehead before walking to the large doors. She paused with her gloved hand on the handle. Turning back, she analyzed the room. It was too spacious for her liking. Of course, all rooms are wide and opened in the castle. It didn't fit a nursery though. It's not too comforting for a baby.

The room was mostly empty with very few toys. Everything she had for her children to play with were in the play room. In the nursery there was just the crib, a changing station that mostly the maids used, and a closet filled with baby clothes, mostly used to keep her child warm.

She knew her husband liked it this way. He was wanting his son to be masculine and powerful. Any king would want the prince to grow up to be tough and commanding. Her son Manic wasn't really the best example of this now, although he was only 5 years of age. Aleena found it amusing as the king only frowned in disappointment when they saw Manic playing with Sonia's dolls, grooming their stringy hair and making sure that none of them were wearing plastic, mixed-matched shoes.

Sonia was most likely the toughest of all the children. It was natural for her to take this leadership role since she was in fact the eldest child. Aleena approved very well that her only daughter showed such strength. She wasn't too elegant or dressy as one would expect from a stereotypical princess, it was unknown that most princesses weren't weak. But Sonia always stood out to her. She never backed down and supported her siblings. This wasn't shown in any real battles but the princess did get very aggressive in the games Dragons VS Wizards. Those games she forced Manic to play while Sonic would be the frog that was once a handsome prince, this was mostly him laying on the floor off to the side.

Aleena knew, though, something was special about Sonic. It hadn't had to do with him being a prince, title never made anyone stand out in her eyes. But there was a plan for him, something grand. She wasn't sure if it included rule over the kingdom or something more.

Aleena looked over her sleeping child for a moment. "Goodnight, my sweet, sweet Sonic," she whispered. Aleena turned around and exited the room, leaving with a soft click from the door.

More cries erupted from the nursery.

**5 Years Later...**

"You can't catch me," a taunting voice echoed through the halls of the castle. A blue blur whizzed past butlers and maids who were preparing for dinner and leaving them distressed from almost tripping over it.

A few seconds later it was followed by a young girl. She looked tired from chasing after her friend, playing tag isn't fair when she is always pronounced "It". "Oh, c'mon Sonic," her light voice whined down the hall from exhaustion," I can't run at 60 miles an hour. I'm wearing a dress!"

Sonic laughed and turned back to his friend in a flash. He did note how she was wearing a dress. After examining her he laughed, "You couldn't even run 60 in shorts!" He earned a glare and saw his friend bunch up her fists. "Oh and by the way, Sally," Sonic included," I was only going 20, trying to keep it slow for you."

Sally punch him in the arm before both kids ran off, Sonic at an even slower pace. "You know I can't wear shorts," Sally puffed as they ran more, exploring the vast castle," It's inappropriate for a young lady like princess." Sally crossed her arms as they stopped in front of the play room.

The young boy shrugged. He didn't understand why Sally's mother didn't allow her to wear shorts. In the castle, his older sister, Sonia, wore shorts all the time. The dress code was even less strict with the young boys. They could walk around with hardly any clothes on at all. Sonic didn't even bother wearing his proper crown most of the time, he felt it too heavy for his head. The only times he did wear it were during the public ceremonies.

His mother didn't mind any of this. It was always his father, Sonic was more careful around. Being only at the age of 5, Sonic learned to clean up his act fast when his dad strolled by. He stood up straight with a small, red royal robe on, ironed to perfection, or that is how he made it look.

Being so young, Sonic didn't understand why his dad, the king, acted as he did. It hurt Sonic, but the young boy didn't fully know about his own emotions yet. He felt stricken in his chest when he found out his mother could only sing him the _"Silver Wind"_ lullaby in secrecy, when no one else was around. But this didn't bother him too much... yet.

They opened the door to see Sonia and Manic playing as usual. The two were always playing together. Having an age difference of only one year brought them closer.

"Surrender now or face my sword," Sonia called out from on top of the little, plastic slide, using her "manly" voice. She held out wooden card board, shaped to have a point, in the direction of her green younger brother. Manic grinned wickedly, his green, messy quills covering part of his face. "Never!" He called back, holding up a small doll, blonde and pink, before charging forward to use it as his weapon.

"What is it with your brother and dolls?" Sally asked Sonic with a giggle. The young boy just shrugged before joining in to play with Sally close behind him.

Sally was on Sonia's team, pretending to hold a sword since there wasn't another card board cut out. Sally didn't leave her position on the slide as much as Sonia did. The purple hedgehog was in more proper play clothes, wearing a red blouse that was loose on the little girl and purple shorts. Sally still wished she could wear shorts. Being a young girl, Sally did love wearing beautiful dresses. Her current one was light and short sleeved. It had a thin clothed layer that was creamy white with silky blue under it. It flowed down, slightly past her ankles, tangling her legs in the long skirt. Her dresses made it hard to keep up with her best friends.

"You will be eliminated!" cried out Manic. The three siblings all founght each other. Sonic, being more of a lone wolf, didn't join Manic's team, but instead created his own. Each clashed at each other as Sonia ran circles around them, literally. She of course wasn't as fast as Sonic, no one was.

Sally smiled at them. She was ready to join them. Blowing her red curls out of her face, Sally began to descend down the slide. Unlucky for her, Sally's foot got stuck on the end of her dress. With a loud gasp, she slipped over the edge of the slide. This didn't go unwitnessed by any of the other children. Sonic acted the fastest of all, catching his best friend before she could hit the ground. That was his first "heroic" saving.

Sonic laid promptly on his back with Sally sitting right upon his gut.

Sally didn't look scared as she smiled down at Sonic. Sonic smiled back before slightly groaning. "Can you get off of me? You're kinda heavy!" This earned him a direct hit on the back of his head.

**3 years later...**

Sonic sat on the edge of his mother's bed in her chambers. He had his head held down, staring at his feet. He exchanged his usual red tennis shoes for black dress shoes. He found his black tuxedo itchy and wanted to tear it off right there, but he knew his father wouldn't want that.

Sonic sniffed, feeling his runny nose. He knew tears were threatening but Sonic was strong enough to prevent them from falling. Sonic couldn't cry. He knew his father wouldn't want that either.

He rubbed his eyes before opening them wide, his green orbs shinning, while trying to dry them with the burning air. There just wasn't enough oxygen in the room. He could feel his throat squeeze tight, something was choking him. Something had to be, he wasn't crying. A brave prince never cries. He stands tall with no fear, his chest puffed out in domination, no emotion could overcome him. The little boy scowled at himself for slouching. His father always yelled at him when he showed his poor posture. But now it seemed impossible for Sonic to straighten himself up.

"Sonic?" He heard such a familiar voice come from the tall doors. He looked up to see his own mother. She looked as heart broken as ever. The green eyes that she shared with her son looked lifeless, they appeared as a sickening green. Her light purple fur over her body seemed more grey with her quills not looking as neatly kept.

Her dress seemed so foreign on her. A black gown for a proper funeral was sewn around her small frame. It was different and too plain compared to her usual golden and white dresses.

The boy couldn't bear to look up at his mother. He was quick with returning his gaze to his feet. Sonic didn't want to see anyone right now. Then why was he in his parents' , or mother's, bedroom instead of his own?

Aleena smiled sadly at her son. "Everyone was looking for you," she made a moments hesitation," although I do not know why you would be in here."

She had done enough crying now, everyone has, except one little boy who refused to do it. He was so stubborn when it came to his feelings.

Aleena could always hold a grudge against her past husband. He made their child that way. All the king ever did with Sonic was stress how he had to act as a man. The boy was only 8 and he already hid his feelings to act strong.

Aleena didn't care about toughness. She only wanted happiness for all her children. Sonic could be like Manic and play with dolls and she still wouldn't care. Of course by now Manic grew out of the doll grooming stage, he now preferred to throw them around and cut their hair.

"Oh Sonic," she sighed of worry for her son. How would he handle this now? Sonic wasn't exactly close to his father, but she knew he wanted to live up to his expectations. There was so much pressure put on him at such a young age.

She tried to comfortably put her hand on his back, to soothe him, but Sonic flinched away at the slightest touch. Aleena didn't let him see her hurt expression, not that he would anyways. Sonic still had his head down, not bothering to meet her gaze once more.

Aleena closed her eyes, she tried to imagine a better place. Her young son next to her did the same thing. Somewhere where there is happiness and hope. Where the sun rises in west and sets in the east. A place with four moons instead of just one. Opened grass fields will surround them so Sonic could run as fast as he can. And the most important key is that their whole family will be there.

Such a place doesn't exist.

Aleena opened her eyes and looked down at her son. He was still holding himself back, away from the world.

"_Silver breeze,_" Aleena began to sing with her croaked voice, "_let it go._"

Sonic shook his head at the lullaby. It wasn't just a song used to put him to sleep, it always made him feel better. But not now.

"_Don't shy away from your greatest foe"_

He couldn't listen to this song. Not now. His father wouldn't want that. The king always disliked how his mother would sing to them. He claimed it made them act like babies. A simple tune wouldn't change anything, it's just a waste of time. A stupid, stupid song.

"_Stand tall with pride-_"

"No," Sonic whispered. Aleena didn't quite hear him. Before she could push out the next line Sonic stood up. "Stop it," he sneered at his own mother. Aleena was taken back. Her mouth hung slightly open in surprise. Sonic had never spoke to her with that kind of voice. Not once in his life had he ever denied his mother, not even when she made him eat broccoli.

"That song," he yelled, his childish voice not too threatening though," It's stupid! I hate it! Don't sing it! You're wasting your own breath!"

Aleena wanted to cry harder. This is what her child had came to. No crying but instead yelling. Harshness that didn't suit him.

Sonic breathed heavily with his chest rising and falling fast. He never lashed out like that before, he could run five miles but as soon as he yells he is out of breath. Strange how his body works.

Aleena stood up and walked swiftly to the door. Sonic watched her cross him, not casting a single adoring glance at him. Aleena paused with her hand on the golden handle. "I must inform you son," Aleena said with no emotion," that you do not want to become like your father."

And with that she left.

Sonic sat back down on the edge of his parents bed. He couldn't quite narrow down exactly what he was feeling. Anger? Guilt? _Relief?_

His mother stopped singing to him every night.

**2 years later...**

"Hurry up, Sally," Sonic pestered to his friend. She frowned at his accusing look. "It's not my fault," she retorted, gesturing to her dress, "my mom still makes me wear dresses." Sally wouldn't admit to Sonic she still likes the dresses, he'd think of her as "too girly."

Sonic jumped up onto the stoned wall that always towered over their short figures. He looked back at Sally who stomped through the bushes, her skirt getting caught on a branch a few times. Sonic smiled in amusement watching his best friend struggle. As Sally always thought being slow was a pain, Sonic found it more entertaining.

He reached down, his hand wide opened for her to take. Sally gratefully took it, appreciating his help. Sonic could feel the warmth of her small, furry hand through his glove. Sally was always so warm. He thought it was because she was also warm hearted.

Sonic pulled her up in one swift movement. He enjoyed being strong from all the movement he did from day to day. Sonic even thought he was stronger than the average 10 year old. He didn't show it off often, but when he did he made sure his point was made.

Both children sat on top of the wall. They looked down upon the city. The people down there were so far away they only looked like small aunts doing their daily lives.

"I wish I could go down there," Sally blurted out, as if it was a deep confession. Sonic scooted closer to her, their shoulders were now brushing each other, letting her know she had his full attention.

"Why?"

Sally looked down at her feet that dangled over the edge. She could see past them and note how easy the small drop would be. It's so simple to jump of the 7 foot fence and roll down the hill to the city.

"I want to see the people," she simply said. Sonic still looked confused. They always saw people. Maids, butlers, and now the tiny "ants" roaming through the streets. "From up here," Sally explained, "it's not the same as it would be to go down there. To see the commoners up close. Don't you want to know how they live?"

Sally tilted her head at Sonic, waiting for an answer. The young boy scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure, really, it wasn't something he thought about on a daily basis. "I guess I would," Sonic said.

He looked down there. At this very moment they could jump and run down to the village and play with everyone there. He was sure the people would welcome them since they were the prince and princess. But something was holding him back.

How would his mother feel about this? She was so caring and protective that Sonic was sure she wouldn't want them wandering down there.

Sally sighed and stood up. Her gaze looked over the setting sun. It turned the sky to a soft orange hue. Sally loved the color orange. Orange and blue were her two favorite colors. That is why she took the time to enjoy sun sets. The way the sky part in between blue and orange. Day turns to night with colors transitioning. She smiled and her glance shifted back to the village. She stared at it while she gulped. Thoughts bouncing in her mind. Would she jump?

Sonic stared up at her. He feared that she was willing to jump. But one thing Sonic was unsure of is if he would jump with her. Would he run down to the city or catch Sally and bring her back up.

After a moments pause, Sally slowly edged forward. And then in a swift moment she jumped back into the bushes of the garden.

Sonic watched her move back to the castle, probably ready to go back to her home.

He sighed and looked down at the town. Just like Sally had felt, he wanted to jump.

**5 years later...**

"Where are you taking me?" Sally asked her boyfriend for the hundredth time. Sonic just laughed as he continued to move Sally forward. "You'll just have to wait to find out."

Even though Sally was slightly upset that he wouldn't tell her, it was over powered by her giddy feeling. Today was going to be a good day and she just knew it. On her 15th birthday Sally was already given one surprise. Sonia had given Sally _shorts. _The kind that were above her knees. Sally instantly changed out of her dress and into the blue shorts. She then wore a yellow blouse that hung loosely around her. The only down side for her was that she knew she could never wear them around her family. She could only wear shorts in the Hedgehogs' castle, but she didn't mind. A pair of shorts were better than no shorts.

But her day brightened even more at Sonic's reaction to seeing Sally in her new favorite clothing. Sonic had never before seen bare fur past Sally's ankles. He may have gotten a few flashes of her lower legs when she jumped and twirled in her dresses, but that was all he ever saw.

After Sonic gotten over his stunning surprise he instantly wanted to show Sally her surprise.

Sonic continued leading his beloved ahead. He kept his gloved hand over her eyes, making sure she wouldn't get a single glimpse of his surprise. He just knew that if he tried to trust her to keep her eyes closed, Sally would peek of curiosity.

"Sonic?" Sally questioned. "Are we in the garden?" Sally could feel the scrape of a leafless branch brushing her leg. Most of the plants in the beautiful garden had passed at the current moment. The summer heat was too much for the flowers, no matter how much refreshing water was given to them. It saddened Sally that she couldn't help them. She came to Sonic's castle at least thrice a week, she was hoping her favorite spot would be beautiful and lively. She could only hope so much.

"Maybe," Sonic mischievously answered. He knew Sally was smart enough to figure things out. It would eventually catch onto her what was planned.

Sally couldn't help but gasp and let out a small squeak when she felt herself being lifted up. At the same time Sonic removed his hand from her eyes. Sonic watched as she blinked a few times, allowing her blues eyes adjust to her surroundings.

"The wall?" Sally questioned. Both were seated on the stoned fencing. This had became to be known at their own spot. Both teens always sat upon it, looking down at the village. Each time Sally spoke of how she wished she could go down there for once.

And then it hit her. "We're really going to?..." Sally's eyes widened with hope at Sonic. Her blue hedgehog smiled with a "Yep." He plucked her small crown off of her soft, red hair. He placed it in a back pack before sealing the zipper. Sonic gently set it down in a bush, where no one could see it.

Sally looked confusingly at Sonic. "We are just going to pretend to be normal people," Sonic explained," If we are known as royalty then we wont be able to see them in their normal lives. Most of them only know about my castle, or at least that's what Sonia told me, so it may be harder for me to blend in without being recognized. But they don't know Princess Sally Acorn, so all you have to do is not wear your crown."

Sally looked over Sonic. He usually didn't dress in the proper attire. Now he wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He looked normal enough. Although Sally worried other people may find his eyes the most magical thing ever, and then get lost in them, and then recognize the eyes of a prince! Or maybe it was just her who thought that.

Sonic hoisted her up, placing an arm around her back and the other under knees, before jumping down. Sonic was about to run down the hill before Sally stopped him. "Wait," she said, before climbing out of his arms. Sally grinned at Sonic's confused face before taking off.

She felt so free for once. Sally spun in circles, pretending to be an air plane. About halfway down the grassy hill Sally stopped and purposely fell over. She laughed as she rolled and rolled down. Shards of grass imprinted onto her skin, although it wasn't noticeable since her fur covered it up.

Sally stopped at the bottom, laying on her back with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Everything smelled so nice. The grass scent drifted on her and stayed. Underneath it all, warm, fresh dough filled the air. Sally loved it all.

She opened up her eyes with excitement, ready to head off. She jumped slightly seeing Sonic leaning right over her. He grinned his charming grin. It was always so happy and care free Sally could just kiss it. But she never has before... and never will...

Sonic reached out his hand for Sally to take. "Having fun there?" He asked playfully. "The funest fun there is!" Sally answered eagerly, not caring that "funest" isn't exactly a word.

Sonic let his arm rest over Sally's shoulders as he guided her into the plaza. Lots of people stood around happily. Some girls sat at a café, drinking soft coffees and chatting up about their latest social lives. Kids ran around at the park and teased the birds, birds with out the humanistic features of course, only to be pecked at. Cars of business men heading to work drove up and down the streets.

Everything was so normal and modern here. Sally and Sonic both had a feeling as if they were too old for this. In a castle life they had to be proper. No smart phones were given. They had to dress as if they were from the 1800's for royal meets. It wasn't right for teenagers. But the city life was so much better.

Life was happening.

Sally smelled it again. The delightful bread. She felt bubbly when she saw a bakery. Sally heard so much about bakeries but never actually stepped foot inside of one.

Sonic knew exactly where she wanted to go. He could just tell by the gleam in her eyes. Sally ran across the street without warning. To her everything happened so fast as it was all in slow motion in Sonic's eyes.

A car of a red fox late to work sped directly towards Sally at 70 miles per hour. Sally was sure it was safe to cross when she began to run, but now she knows different. The guy honked out his horn and slammed on the breaks to stop, but the car still slid down the paved street.

Sally screamed for her life and squeezed her eyes shut while raising her arms as if she could block the blow. But nothing came. She wasn't hit with the force she expected. Sally felt a familiar rush evolve around her. She looked up to see Sonic, wrapping his arms around her. Sonic saved his Sally. Sally heard Sonic curse under his breath with relief. "Seriously Sally," he grunted looked down at her. Sally felt ashamed she was so careless. She wasn't exposed to these dangers in the streets. "I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling small in his arms.

They left behind the angry drivers and few citizens who stopped and stared at the close scene before them.

Something kept ringing in Sonic's head. _Sally almost died._

The rest of their time was more light. No pressure was put on either of the teens. Both Sally and Sonic enjoyed a warm doughnut from the bakery. Afterwards they walked past shops, but didn't bother to buy anything. Both knew that they could've. Being considered royal made you born with wealth. Neither of them bothered with it anyways.

The park was exceptionally fun. Sonic found a tree he seemed to enjoy and began to climb it. He felt 5 again. So lively and able to do what ever he wanted. He played like a little kid around the branches.

Sonic didn't bother with toys and such anymore. He was growing up. More responsibilities were being dropped upon him. Sonic only had time to run and hang out with Sally, everything else was work. He had gotten so much duties as a prince ever since the king was gone. Sonic inwardly winced at the thought before continuing his climb.

Down below the beautiful princess talked to the citizens. She was glowing from happiness on the best birthday of her life. Sally laughed as she talked with the little children. All were unaware of her being a princess, which was what she wanted. She just wanted to talk to normal people without any special treatment. "_Maybe one day they'll be my people_," Sally thought with a blush.

She looked over to Sonic, who was laying down on a branch. He was completely unaware of the blue eyes gazing at and admiring him.

Sally wondered if he fully understood how she felt about him. Sonic did love Sally, they were in a romantic relationship so of course he did. But Sally never heard him say the actual words before. Sally never said it to him either...

Sally continued to smile at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the young children. As always, Sonic was still on her mind. One day they will be married. Sally wasn't sure if Sonic knew, but they had an arranged marriage. She could remember the day her mother told her, expecting Sally to protest. But instead the girl was quiet. Sally's mind raced as she wanted to tell Sonic right away.

Sally never told him. She feared that she would never know if Sonic truly loved her since it's a preplanned marriage. Sally knew they had a set marriage, and she truly loved him.

Sally felt so happy that day. Her 15th birthday was the best day of her life.

"C'mon, Sally," Sonic said eventually. I think we should head home. Sally nodded and left with Sonic, waving farewell to the children.

Sally looked down upon the city. So many people down there were normal. Normal was good. Sally smiled sadly as she felt Sonic place her tiara back onto her head. It was one step back into her own life, away from the secret one she had with Sonic. She looked down at her shorts, her legs were exposed to the world. "_Soon,_" Sally thought, "_I'll be back into my dress._"

Sally's smile slowly shifted into a sad expression.

"Don't worry Sally," Sonic said reassuringly, "We can go back _anytime _you would like to!" Sally brightened up at this. She knew for a fact that she'll remember those words.

'_Anytime..._'

**6 months later...**

"I'm really sorry, Sally," Sonic looked apologetically. Sally just waved him off for the hundredth time. She hated when he did this. He always blamed himself for something that wasn't his fault. Or at least it wasn't his fault to Sally.

"Really, Sonic, I'll be fine. Don't worry. I told you, it's okay!" Sally was a little exasperated with him. She has been trying for the past ten minutes to get him out the door.

"I thought I sent out a message for you," Sonic continued to explain again, even though his girlfriend understood what happened," it must've gotten lost. I'm really sorry..."

"Sonic!" Sally snapped. "Just shut up already." She laughed at Sonic's confused expression. "I told you it's okay. I don't mind hanging out around here for the next few hours! Honestly! Now _go_!" Sally began nudging Sonic through his bedroom door, he followed willingly.

Sonic turned around one last time with a grin," For the record, if I didn't have to go to this stupid reunion, I would most defiantly love to spend the day with you."

Sonic strongly disliked family reunions. Most people would enjoy them and catch up as soon as possible, but that wasn't how a royal family worked. Sonic had to dress up in a prince uniform, he strongly had negative feelings for them. Sonic didn't like his scratchy, navy blue suit. He also felt like a completely different person wearing his formal crown he places on his head once in a blue moon. He wore this to go to several long speeches given by people he hardly knew. It was especially hard when half of them were about his "_brave_" and "_strong willed_" father. He knew he will have a tough time for the next 5 hours.

Sally knew how Sonic felt about this. But he couldn't forget that he is a prince. A prince has duties to hold and carry through.

"_Good bye_, Sonic, " was all she said before closing the door and turning back into his bedroom. She could feel a draft from under the door from him running off down the hallway to his family, ready to leave for a long day.

She giggled to herself when she heard him call out, "_I'll come and find you as soon as I get back!_"

Sally turned to Sonic's room. Other than the garden, they were caught hanging around in here often. Sonic's bedroom was most likely her favorite room in the whole castle. It never screamed him, but he did have the softest bed in the world. The walls were painted a light royal blue, not because of him being blue himself. Most of the rooms in the castle were either blue or purple. The flooring was hard and marble, so clean her reflection shinned in it.

Sally plopped down upon Sonic's bed. The sheets were a dark blue, to go along with the blue themed room. Sally couldn't help but wrap herself into the plush softness as she stared above her. Sonic's large canopy casted a shadow on her. She knew he liked it dark in case if he wanted to take another nap for the day, but Sally herself preferred the light. It always resembled so much happiness.

After an hour of resting, or trying to, Sally decided to wander the halls. She loved to explore Sonic's home over hers. His castle was much better than the one back in the Acorn Kingdom, in her opinion.

There were only so many pillars she could count, Sally added up exactly 257 on one floor. She was beginning to get bored. "_4 more hours until they return,_" she thought to herself.

Sally drifted to the back and outside the castle. She loved the stone path that circled the garden. It was so perfect to her. She loved how the flowers bloomed still and the bushes carried the greenest leaves. Winter months didn't affect the growth of the plants. It was warm all year round in the area.

Sally skipped through the shrubs, wanting to get to her special seating spot. Using her arms, she grasped the stoning and pulled herself up onto the wall. She smirked at herself, admiring her own strength. She felt disappointed that her mother never gave her the credit she deserved. Sally was very strong and she could bet most girls would have trouble lifting themselves up in a dress.

Sally sat as usual with her feet dangling off the edge, swinging back and forth over the hill. She smiled down at the normal people. She thought of how the children she talked to could be doing anything right now. "_Maybe they're at the park..._"

Sally then had an idea. It seemed to fill up her heart as she was setting her mind on whether or not to carry it through. "_Sonic did say 'anytime'," _she thought with a mischievous grin. Sally hadn't visited the neighboring town ever since the first time Sonic took her there on her first birthday.

Sally smiled to herself as she slowly lifted her golden tiara off of her head. She gently set it down on the wall next to her, making sure it couldn't fall off.

She stood up, dusting off the long skirt on her dress. Looking down, the city seemed far away and the hill looked steeper. She liked it that way.

Sally jumped off of the stone wall, hoping none of the guards were watching her. She was lucky that they always gave the royal subjects their privacy.

Once more, Sally wanted to feel the feeling she had before. To be free and cherish the life she has. Sally smiled and she skipped on ahead. Grinning down the hill before falling forward, ready to roll down the hill. Sally laughed aloud as she continued to roll and roll.

The skirt of her dress tangled around her in the process. Sally felt her legs stuck close together but she didn't care to loosen it up.

Sally stopped as she laid upon her forearms, pushing herself up. Within a few steps forward, her head spun. Her eyes drifted back and forth around her skull of dizziness. She was blinded.

Sally tried hard, she really did, to stand straight, but the world was tilting. Step after confused step she moved forward. A splash of shadows and oranges exploded in her sight. She loved the color orange but now she wished it would go away.

Sally had to rely on her other senses. She could hear so much. Many people talked and gossiped. The screams of kids from the park emitted towards her. Sally wanted to smile, thinking of them playing a game. Then more people screamed. So many loud voices yelling at her. Then there was a horn sounding out at the loudest cry.

**_Later that evening..._**

Sonic sighed as he got home. The sun was starting to set. He knew exactly where Sally would be if she was still at his home. Sonic grinned as he ran off to find her, abandoning his jacket in the process.

He looked up ahead and into the garden. Over the wall he could only see the bright orange sky. It seemed to be burned by the sun before slowly cooling into a dark blue. He never appreciated sun sets like Sally, he hadn't had the slightest clue as to why she appreciated them so much. Yes, they had her favorite colors, but was that all why?

Sonic slowed down as he approached the stone. It still slightly towered over him, but not as much as it had when he was younger and still a naïve child. He was slightly confused as to why Sally wouldn't be there. Could she still be in his room? Sonic knew how much she cherished his bed. He laughed silently to himself at the thought.

Before turning around, there was a flash in the corner of his eye. On instinct, Sonic turned directly to it. He hadn't noticed before, but there sat was a small, golden tiara. It was the one and only Sally Acorn's.

"_Why would she leave it out here?_" Sonic thought to himself, picking it up. It was cool to the touch. "_She must've left it out a while ago..._"

Sonic turned and headed back into the castle. Sally wasn't inside. Not in his bedroom. Not in the play room. Not in the kitchen. Not down any of the halls.

After hours of searching, the news was finally discovered the next morning that Sally Acorn, princess of the Acorn Kingdom, was ran over by a moving vehicle... instantly killed.

**1 year later...**

The night was still. Every maid and butler ran off to their own quarters for their rest before having to get up early the next morning. The only ones remained alert were tall, stiff guards. More security was placed around with watchmen at every door. There was even a personal body guard for the small chao that stayed in the Hedgehog household, or _castle_hold.

Another person was awake as well. So weak and broken, you couldn't tell that they had ever smiled once in their life. Sonic the hedgehog was lying awake in bed. He did this on most nights, thinking to himself. The thoughts that brought claustrophobic headaches and painful migraines. These were the thoughts of a lover's past.

Sally Acorn was gone forever. She was out of his life, which was strange. Sonic was used to seeing her every week for years. Now he couldn't even visit her gravestone every day, it being located somewhere far away and unknown to him. Sonic would know if he wasn't so thick skulled, that being what his sister told him.

But he couldn't do it. Sonic wasn't able to bring himself to go to the funeral of his ex. He sat in a tuxedo for the ceremony for hours, alone and locked in his bedroom. He never visited his mother's chambers like how he had done during the funeral for his father, the king. Instead, Sonic remained alone. He was quiet and kept to himself, not uttering a word to anyone else.

In his dark times, he only spoke to his older siblings, and rarely, his mother. He wasn't sure why he pushed her away. He used to love his mother, he still did, but Sonic didn't express it as much.

Troubles with his own feelings is hard. So many times people had asked him," Do you want to talk about it?" Each time his answer was just a quick shake of the head. No one expected that he would say yes. If Sonic learned anything from his father, it was to not show weakness. Sonic could only be strong and keep his head up. Not every teacher is a good teacher. The king wasn't a good teacher.

Laying in his bed on this night, Sonic could feel it. Such a pressure growing in his heart. Not only was he broken, he was shattered. He would fall apart any moment, not being able to handle the act. So much loss in a young boy to the point he has nothing left to do...

And with that, Sonic got up.

He meekly pushed aside the dark blue covers, hating the color blue. For once her took things slow, walking to the door. Sonic knew he could turn around and go back to bed, continue to be fake. Sonic knew if he did that then he'd go insane. He would be more dead inside.

Opening the tall doors, Sonic peaked into the hallway. He was met face to face with an orange, birded guard. The bird didn't show well his surprise of seeing the prince leave his chambers in the ungodly hour. Sonic waved him off, muttering something about not following him.

The teenager shuffled his way around, coming up to another door, very similar to the one of his own bedroom.

I was dark in the room. The moonlight beamed a silver gleam through the thin windows and over the peaceful sleep of Aleena. Sonic felt desperate, looking at his own mother. He wondered if this is how she felt, during dealing with the death of his father.

In that empathetic feeling, Sonic ran. In a flash, he was next to his mom, on top of the covers.

Aleena almost yelped aloud, startled by the sudden pressure. She rubbed at her tired eyes and brushed back her messy quills from her face. Aleena looked confused at the shaky figure curled up next to her. It took a moment to realize who it was in the dark. "Sonic?"

"I'm sorry," he blurted back in a response. Aleena quietly gasped at his voice. It was so raspy and cracked, she wondered if it really was he child. "I'm so sorry," Sonic repeated over and over again. Aleena smiled sadly down at him. She felt bad that Sonic had to go through heartbreak at such a young age of only 16. "It's okay," Aleena cooed while rubbing his back," I wasn't even that tired."

Sonic looked up at her for a moment, it was a long time since their identical eyes met. They paused, staring at each other. Aleena saw a single teal roll down his right cheek.

Sonic shook his head and tucked it back into his chest. He curled up into himself tighter. "No, not that," his muffled voice was heard," for everything. For yelling at you 8 years ago, for dad, for my behavior, and for _Sally_." The queen and her young prince were quiet for a moment. Aleena wasn't sure what to say. She knew ,"It'll all be okay," wouldn't help now. A reoccurring plan lingered at the back of her head once more.

Sonic rolled over on to his back. Not his arms and legs were spread out. He was trying to breathe steadily with a clenched throat. Aleena observed his now tear stained cheeks. "It's all my fault," Sonic moaned.

Aleena furrowed her eye brows at this. She felt flustered and angry at who ever made him think this. "Sonic the Hedgehog," she exclaimed," The death of your father was no-"

"Not that!" He cut her off. "It's _Sally_! It's my fault that Sally died! It's all my fault!"

Aleena sat up straighter, looking down at her distressed son. "Now why on Mobius would you think that?" Sonic looked at his mother, his eyes were dull with no life and his eyes lids drooped lazily over them. "If I was there she wouldn't have left and gotten _ran over! _It is because of me that her DNA was smothered on those disgusting streets!" Sonic sneered the last two word, coating them in venom.

Aleena tried to remain as unfazed as possible from Sonic's tone. She didn't appreciate how he talked about the land she ran, but yet she couldn't hold a grudge. "Sonic," she spoke calmly and softly," you didn't have a choice. We had to go and honor our family.."

"It's still my fault!" Sonic screamed. Aleena silently hoped no one could hear him. "I put the idea in her head that it was okay to go down there," Sonic explained, but it sounded more like a plead.

Aleena knew that is still wasn't his fault Sally died. She also knew arguing with him about it was pointless. Sonic liked to stick to his own ideas, he would always take blame for something that isn't his reasoning.

Sonic began to sob more. He was a silent crier, you couldn't hear a struggled breath leave him followed by a whimper. Sonic sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. He hid his face away, not wanting to be seen so weak, just wanting to be heard. His shoulders shook violently as his bottom lip continued to quiver.

Aleena stretched out her hand towards him. Sonic looked over the same time, almost as if he sensed it. He stared at her small hand, similar to how a scientist would stare at a experiment in process. He weakly lifted his own hand and placed it in his mother's.

Aleena smiled, not of happiness and yet not of grief. She pulled her son closer to her, Sonic scooted closer with out any protest. Aleena wrapped one arm around in as Sonic buried his head into her shoulder.

He whispered something that caught Aleena off guard. "_Sing to me..._"

She knew he didn't want just any song. He wanted his song, his long lost song that he hadn't heard from her in 8 years. Aleena smiled as she began her lullaby.

"_Silver breeze, let it go_

_Don't shy away from your greatest foe_

_Stand tall with pride_

_All worries had died_

_I'll bite my tongue _

_'Till the morning sung_

_Oh how I wished for my lovers kiss_

_But I knew, it was all just imagined bliss_

_Silver breeze, gone so long_

_And I heard the morning song"_

By the time she was finished, Sonic's breathing was sustained. The two were once again flooded in silence. This gave Aleena time to think. She frowned. The thought was still boggling inside her mind.

She drew in a shaky breath. "Sonic," the boy raised his head to meet his mother's gaze ," would you like to go away?"

He knew what she meant. Not just go away, but to step down. Leave the royal life. This would help him, or at least that's what she hoped. Aleena knew Sonic never cared for his title. He didn't even take it seriously.

Sonia and Manic eventually moved into a better state of royalty. They knew what plans their future held. But Sonic... His family could tell that he didn't belong, there was a better place for him somewhere.

Sonic could become normal. Sonic would be free. Sonic would be away from _her._

As soon as Aleena feared he wouldn't answer, Sonic's voice cut at her thoughts. "Yes."

She didn't say anything. She held herself together with a firm nod. Aleena embraced her son all night. By morning it was settled what was to happen.

Sonic would be leaving in the next week. He knew where he was going. A small area, small compared to the major cities he was used to looking upon. It had wide fields, specifically set for running. A place with four weathering seasons. Heat wont be beating at Sonic all year long. And lastly, it is far away from where royalty is important. A place where Sonic can escape.

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><p><strong>TAADAA! I know a lot happened in this prologue, but I needed it that way!<strong>

**Recap! Summary on Sonic's early life! That's done! Next chapter will hopefully be up by early next week!**

**This story isn't a royal story, I know it seems like it at first, but royalty isn't the main point.**


	2. Stuck-up and Blue

**Sorry it came out later than I was expecting. So here is Chapter 1! (The before one was obviously a prologue.)((You know since I titled it Prologue...))**

**Most characters belong to Sega.**

**Cryssi belongs to me**

**Stuck-up and Blue**

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><p>The rusty bus came to a rattled stop. It rocked back and forth before settling down. A puff of exhaust exhaled from the pipe at the back. The slim, glass doors swung open. Joyful and layered sounds of tourist chatter and singing rang out from inside.<p>

In her raspberry go-go boots, Amy Rose stepped down the stars and onto the dirt road. She set her heavy luggage down at her side for a moment. After waving away other citizens she met on her long 22-hour bus ride, she turned ahead of her, ready for her new life.

She brushed back her three pink quills that fell back onto her eyes. The scene ahead of her was fresh and lively in a peaceful way. Amy was so used to the city life. She was used to seeing a tall building in every corner. But here Amy could see miles around. Cement didn't bury Mobius's natural ground. She had a feeling she was going to like it here.

Green fields stretched across her right. She saw flowers bloom over the hills and sway in the soft breeze. The silky petals of white, yellows, and purples clung on tightly to their stems. Amy smiled at them. To her left she saw the dirt road slowly end and vanish into a forest with high trees and green leaves that seem a little too perfect.

The pink hedgehog turned to her bag and unzipped a front compartment. She pulled out a small and easy-to-read map of the area. She knew that few people lived here. Only a total of twenty houses were marked on it. Each had at least a five minute walking distance between them. Amy knew she wouldn't mind that. Back at her apartment in Station Square, Amy could remember having the most obnoxious neighbors. She was never able to study due to the racket of late games and partying from the older college kids that went to the nearby campus. It was also impossible to sleep in. An older lady on her opposite side would be playing music over 70 years old at six O'clock in the morning every single day.

Amy brushed off her negative thoughts of it and continued to read the map. She was looking for something. A specific house is what she needed. Amy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. No addresses on the map were there to tell her what would be the correct home for Amy to stay in. She needed to find the home of Cream and Vanilla.

With a sigh of defeat, she grabbed the handle of her red luggage and rolled it next to her as she started down the dirt road. "_I'll eventually find them,_" Amy thought with determination.

She didn't see other people for the first half hour. She was alone, watching the chaos and butterflies play in wild gardens. Amy smiled at them. She had never seen a wild chao before. Most of the ones she saw were kept on leashes and closed inside of homes.

Eventually, Amy did see a young girl ahead of her. The dog was no more than a day older than Amy. Her brown ears hung at the sides of her head. Her fur was white with brown spots covering her arms and legs. Amy admired her nice choice of a matching outfit. The dog wore a blue skirt that puffed up around her thighs. Her white blouse was tucked into the waistband of the skirt. She had on matching white boots that had dirt on them towards the souls.

"Excuse me!" Amy called, catching the girls attention. The dog's brown eyes met with her emerald green ones. She smiled as the pink hedgehog approached.

"Hi there!" She said cheerily. Her voice was filled with energy. "What can I do for you?"

"Well," Amy began as she held out her map, "I just got here and I'm looking for the home of Cream and Vanilla."

"Oh," the dag said understandingly, "I can take you there!"

Amy broke into a smile of gratitude. "Really? Thank you very much!"

"No problem!" Both girls began their descent down the dirt path. The calming crunch of dirt under their boots was accompanied by small talk. "I'm Cryssi, by the way." Cryssi held out her hand for Amy to take hold of and shake. The girl gladly shook hers with her gloved hand. "Amy Rose."

"You know," Cryssi said as she looked over the hedgehog, "you're very pink." Amy laughed and nodded as she looked down at herself. She wore a simple, raspberry, strapless dress. It matched her boots that held the same solid color other than the vertical, white stripe that went down the middle of each boot. Her fur was a light pink. Her slightly tanned arms and muzzle also had a hue of pink to them.

Cryssi tilted her head to the side and stared at Amy, as if she was examining her. Amy felt under pressure and looked off to the side, unsure of what to do with herself. It has been a while since she met someone new, she wasn't sure if this was normal.

"Are you related to Sonic the Hedgehog?" Cryssi suddenly blurted out. Amy raised an eyebrow. She was confused by the question. She never heard of a Sonic before. The girl slowly shook her head as an answer of "no."

Cryssi shrugged as they kept walking ahead. "I'm sorry," she said, seeming shy for once, "it's just that you two have the same colored eyes." Amy blushed with embarrassment at her comment. She wasn't sure if it was a compliment. Cryssi smiled at Amy's innocent confusion. "It's not a bad thing! Green is a very pretty color! Lots of girl have flaunted over his eyes!"

Amy's eyes widened at the comment. She never thought much of guys, most of the last four years of her life had been spent studying. But it confused her on why girls would fall in love over someone's appearance. It's one thing to think of someone as attractive, it's another to love.

"Not that girls would do that to you!" Cryssi quickly explained, panicked at Amy's expression. Amy laughed at her comment. She wasn't worried over that at all. Only a fool with a big ego would think of people having fan clubs for them, in her opinion.

"Well it's good that I wont have to worry about that," Amy lightly laughed out.

"Why are you staying with Cream and Vanilla anyways?" Amy gnawed at the inside of her cheek at this question. She hasn't exactly thought of a reasonable answer other than the low paying job offered to her. When she told a few people at her apartment where she was going, they shook their head as if she was a mistake. Maybe Amy was.

"I just want to get away from the city," Amy lied through her teeth. She just met Cryssi and she was already lying to her friend. "The people there are loud and obnoxious." It wasn't a complete lie.

Cryssi nodded her head. "So why here?"

Amy pondered for a moment over the question. Of all the places she chose, she picked the one that's almost off the map and unlabeled. "Well," Amy slowly said as she furrowed her eyes, "I saw the ad of a governess in need in the corner of a newspaper. I called up Vanilla before mailing my application. I soon found that I'll be teaching Cream and that housing will be supplied. So here I am!"

Amy took a few skipping steps before settling into a casual walk. Cryssi followed her with a giggle. "Well, you'll like it here," she reassured Amy, "Everyone here is... manageable. By the end of the week you'll know us all, or at least this side of the area. If you go exploring often you'll meet us all."

Amy smiled brightly. If everyone were like Cryssi then she will be enjoying it here. "I look forward to meeting you all."

Cryssi skipped ahead as she suddenly turned down a slim path. Amy hadn't noticed the small house there. It had a light, brown tiled roof. A small brick chimney stood up lifeless with no smoke coming through. The stucco walls rose four feet above Amy's head. She looked through the large, white framed windows. It was dark inside the house.

"They may not be home," Cryssi reasoned as she looked into the darkness of the house. "Dont't worry, I have a key," Cryssi reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver key. Amy never knew friends trusted each other with the keys to each other's homes.

The wooden door slowly creaked open. Cryssi stepped in through the doorway. Cool air feel upon Amy's face as she followed closely behind. The interior was very light. Amy took in the faint scent of flowers as she walked past a vase. All the walls in the whole house were a soft yellow. It was more comforting than a bright blinding neon color.

"You can set your bags in the corner for now," Cryssi pointed behind Amy, "it would be best that the actual owners of the house settle you in instead of their crazy friend!" Cryssi laughed as she spoke about herself. Amy laughed as well as she took a seat on the plush, pink couch. She sat with her back straight and hands folded neatly onto the knees.

The two continued to talk to each other. It was as if they were playing 20 Questions when getting to know one another. Amy quickly found out that Cryssi had been living in the small town that has come to be known as Emerald Town. She learned that this place was once very popular. It wasn't as grassy as Amy sees it now. Cryssi claimed that most people left to go to Station Square after a rush of jobs opened.

Not too long after the girls had became comfortable around each other, the front door lightly swung open. In came an older woman who had a teenage girl close behind her. Both had long, light brown ears that hung around them. The small girl had on an orange blouse and white capris. "I'm Cream," her light voice sang. Amy smiled at the cute girl. "I'm Amy Rose."

"I am terribly sorry," the older woman, Vanilla, Amy assumed, apologized. "We went to deliver some tools our friend Tails left here after he fixed our sink." Amy waved off the apology, finding it no problem at all. "I am Vanilla," she held out her long, gloved hand, which Amy lightly shook.

"Thank you, Cryssi, for letting our friend in." Amy could already tell that Vanilla had a high sense of manners.

Cryssi headed towards the front door. "No problem!" She put her hand on the golden door handle. "I'll talk to you guys later. Bye, Amy! It was nice meeting you!" With that, Amy's first friend at Emerald Town was off.

Amy was given a small tour of the house. There wasn't much there to see. The kitchen was wide with a square island in the middle. Cream explained to Amy how she loved the bake often. Amy agreed to learn some cooking tips from her later. The living room had been the room Amy and Cryssi were seated in earlier. It was simple with the pink couch, light wooded coffee table, and large box television, which was hardly used. The dining had more too it. Flowers were hung in pictures and put in pots in this room. Amy could tell most of the housing scent came from in here. Upstairs had four rooms. Three of them were identical bedrooms as the other was a larger closet to store items unneeded at the moment. Vanilla offered for Amy to feel free to use it when ever she had extra items.

Amy didn't take much time to rest in her new bedroom. She really wanted to have a look at the whole town, just so she wouldn't get lost. Cream was more than happy to show her new governess and friend around.

"So, how old are you?" Amy wanted to know everything about Cream since she will be spending a lot of time with her. "I'm 13 and a half years old!" Cream cheered happily in response. "How old are you, Amy?" She asked in return. "18," Amy confirmed.

Cream seemed surprised at Amy's answer. "Not to be rude, Miss," Cream exclaimed, "but that is young to be a governess!" Amy slightly laughed at the girl's reaction. "I suppose it is. I did just graduate from high school."

The girls continued to walk down the dirt road. Cream told Amy that they got rid of the concrete because most people walked from place to place over driving cars. Both girls stopped and sat in the middle of one of the many fields. They were surrounded by flowers. Flowers were one of Cream's most favorite things. She also loved the chao that would play near the flowers. Cream had her own chao named Cheese. He was currently at a nearby beach for cleaning in the water.

Peace was between the two for a while. Amy didn't want it to go away. She was still relieved to be off the smelly bus. It was a shame that no clean planes flew directly to Emerald Town.

Amy laughed as a small chao rubbed his forehead against her cheek. She found the white, ball of flying fuzz adorable. Cream giggled along with her as more chao surrounded the young rabbit. But soon all of their squeals of joy faded. The girls were left, dumbfounded as all the chao suddenly flew away, leaving them alone in the middle of the natural garden.

"What was that about?" Amy slowly asked as both of them shared a confused look. "Something doesn't feel right," Cream said. She looked shaken and nervous. The rabbit glanced from side to side until she heard a voice call out to them. "Watch out!"

Before Amy's mind could catch up to her instincts, Cream was pulled over from her spot as Amy dove off to the side. A crash was felt as it vibrated through the Mobius's ground. Debris flew up in the air and scattered around. Amy coughed at the intoxicated air. With a small groan she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She looked down at Cream as the dusty dirt settled down to check if she was okay. The young girl looked scared for a moment. "What was that?" She asked. Amy stood up, "I don't know."

She eyed the mound of dirt that lied where she was previously sitting. Amy approached it cautiously with one step at a time. Amy looked over the pile to see a blue figure as still as set stone. "Hello?" She called to the person that she realized was also a hedgehog. No one answered her. She heard a gasp from her side as Cream saw who it was. "Oh no!" She cried. "It's-"

"I've got you now Sonic!" Another voice interrupted Cream. It made Amy cringe inwardly. She looked up to see a round man hovering not far from them in some sort of contraption. His big nose pointed down at them. Amy couldn't see his small eyes that hid behind thin rimmed glasses. No hair was on his head other than his messy mustache that spiked out to the sides.

The man gave an unwanted laugh, but stopped half way through when he caught sight of the pink hedgehog. He gave a confused glance over her. "Huh? Who are you?" Amy folded her arms over her chest, trying to look intimidating, before answering, "Amy Rose. And you are?" The man raised his fist high above his head. "I am Doctor Eggman! Evil genius!"

Amy tilted her head at this. "_Evil genius?_" "Doctor Eggman is mean!" Cream called out. "He is always trying to hurt my friend Sonic!" Amy looked back down at the figure who had not risen yet. She then glared up at the older man. Amy felt furious towards him for hurting innocent people, or as far as she knew they were innocent.

"That's not right!" She called out to him. For a moment she stared him down with her emerald green eyes. Eggman just laughed at her attempts to scare him. He saw her as nothing more than a small annoyance. "What are you going to do about it?" He challenged.

Amy gritted her teeth as she held her hand out to her side. For a moment she made her brain concentrate on feeling weight in her hand. With her mind commanding it, a long hammer appeared in her hand. She grinned at it. The yellow handle was familiar and she missed it in her grip.

"This." Amy jumped over the blue body. She spun once before letting loose her hammer. It flew up at Eggman, who looked shocked. He couldn't hesitate. The older man quickly pulled himself together and grabbed the control stick of his cart. He was quick to move out of the way at the last minute. Amy felt a small pint of defeat as she watched her hammer soar over his shoulder.

The man obnoxiously laughed. "You are just another pity friend of Sonic's! As much fun as it is to watch you fail, I have plans to do. So be gone with you." Eggman pressed a bright red control button. Amy's eyes widened as she saw a blue light form at the tip of a gun.

"Amy!" Cream yelled for her friend. It was her first day here and she didn't want her hurt already.

With a zipping noise, the laser shot out at the speed of a normal bullet towards her. It was too fast for Amy to move out of the way, even if she tried. Lucky for her, someone here was faster.

Amy felt warmth around her. She was tugged away before any damage could come to her. Amy was startled and let out a small squeak as she closed her eyes tight. No pain struck her as she was held up.

"You're okay." Someone reassured her. It was the same voice that had warned her and Cream to move. Amy blinked open her eyes. The first thing she saw was blue and tan. The person's embrace loosened from around her as she looked up to the face. She was met with another pair of green eyes. Amy realized that this was the person who had laid still earlier. This was Sonic the Hedgehog; the boy Cryssi had briefly told her about.

And then he was gone. With a brush of air he left with a blue streak following him. Amy held down the hem of her dress to prevent it from flying up and exposing her undergarments.

She turned around and saw him dash at the "evil genius." Eggman sent curses at Sonic. The blue hedgehog just gave back smart remarks and called him "Eggbrain" numerous times. Amy watched the fight go down between the two. She was unable to tear her eyes away as she witnessed it. She had never seen anything like it before and was speechless. The pink hedgehog didn't even notice the brown rabbit stand next to her and ask about her well being.

With a final kick, Sonic sent Eggman a few hundred feet away. The blue hedgehog smirked at his fine work with defeating his weekly enemy. Sonic swiped his hands against each other as he dusted any dirt off of his gloves.

He was about to run off once more before he remembered a certain pinkie. Sonic looked back over his shoulder to see Cream standing next to a girl who looked like she was about to burst. Who could blame Amy? It was her first time seeing a hero in action.

Sonic thought it was only polite to introduce himself. With in a blink of an eye, he stood right in front of Amy. He held out his hand to the other hedgehog. "Sonic the Hedgehog." He introduced himself. He was unaware of the fact that Amy already knew his name.

Amy gladly took his hand. Her grip was more eager and tight than his. "I'm Amy Rose!" She exclaimed, a little loudly. Sonic didn't show any hint of surprise at her outburst. "That was _amazing!_" Amy went on, "How did you do that? All of that running! You're really fast! Do you do that often? I've never seen anything like it before!" Sonic released her hand as he laughed, slightly nervous. He scratched the back of his head as his glance drifted away from hers. "Yeah, it's kinda my thing."

Before Amy could pester Sonic more, Cream interrupted. "Amy, mother will be making dinner soon. Maybe we should head back home." Amy nodded in agreement. Both girls waved to Sonic. As they turned around Sonic called out, "Bye Cream! Bye Amy!" He have a small salute as a goodbye gesture.

As Sonic was about to run off he heard Amy's voice once more. "Wait! Once more thing!" She stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. Amy gave a genuine smile as bother of their eyes met. "Thank you for helping me." Sonic shifted over a little bit, letting her hand fall to her side. "No problem!" He gave her a thumbs up. There was a short pause that gave an awkward tension.

"Well, bye!" Amy quickly finished as she turned around to catch up to Cream.

This time Sonic stopped Amy. The girl gave him a confused look. "Listen," Sonic said with a heavy breath, "I must warn you one thing." Amy nodded as she waited for Sonic to continue. "I guess we are going to be seeing each other more than once since you'll be hanging out with Cream, I assume. But what ever you may _think_ is happening between us, it's not. So do **not **fall in love with me."

Amy felt her jaw drop. She couldn't seem to shut it. Amy was stunned as Sonic took off in the other direction. Then she became angry.

"_His head is so big he'll topple over!"_ Amy screamed in her mind as she turned around and went to catch up to Cream. Amy had regretted thinking of Sonic as a hero. "_He wishes I'd love him,_" she thought bitterly. It was big egoed people that Amy was hoping to get away from. She thought back to how Cryssi said how most girls loved his eyes. "_But not his personality._"

The girls went back to Cream's house where they were greeted with a nice, fresh dinner. The rest of the evening was filled with simple talk, which Amy didn't mind. At the end of the day, she was happy to be starting a new life.

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><p><strong>Some questions to keep in mind:<strong>

**What did Amy not want to tell Cryssi about her leaving the city earlier?**

**Why does Sonic appear narcissistic?**

**(Keep in mind calling someone big headed means they have a big ego.)**

**Question like these will be answered in the next few chapters!**


	3. Hello

**Hopefully my motivation will drive me to write the chapters faster! Enjoy :)**

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><p>The sun slowly began to peak over the horizon. It gave an orange glow across the morning birds and green leaved trees. Small ponds sparkled under the natural lighting from the star.<p>

It spilled through the curtains and brushed across Amy's eyelids. The girl scrunched her face as she turned over. Her messy, pink quills sprouted out from underneath the blankets of her new room. They were so soft and alluring, she never wanted to leave her bed. But as the blue jay began to sing in the early hour, Amy knew it was time to get up.

She threw the hem of the covers away from her. Reaching for the ceiling, the girl stretched above her and arched her back to release tension. A slow yawn carried on through out the room.

Amy's eyes looked it over once more. It felt too plain to live in. It made her feel like an unexpected guest that will only stay for a few days. "_Maybe Cream will help me decorate it,_" she pondered on the idea while over looking the lonely dresser.

She had just met the young rabbit and yet they were already having a connection. Amy only know four people here in her fist day, three of them actually being her friends, and already she was fond of them. Each seemed unique, as if something defined them. Amy secretly was eager to meet more of the neighbors. Of course each neighbor was at least an acre away.

The girl stood up and moved from her bed to packed suit case. "_Note-to-self: unpack suit case._" Removing her night wear, she pulled on her regular out fit. She zipped up the back of her raspberry pink sundress and pulled up the matching boots.

She quietly closed the bedroom door behind her before strolling down the hallway. Amy skipped down the steps. Stopping at the bottom, she could hear small talk from the kitchen between the mother and daughter of the household.

"Yes, Cream, the flowers are- Oh! Good morning, Amy!"

Vanilla greeted the pink hedgehog from behind the island in the middle of the kitchen. She looked awake in the morning, which contrasted against Amy's more drowsy morning. The older rabbit tucked away the last pan she washed into the cupboard. Amy looked in front of Cream, who had a plate of one and a half pan cakes coated in syrup. Not far away were a few more that looked untouched.

"For you," Cream pushed the plates towards the girl. Amy smiled in appreciation as she sat down and unclipped the jar of syrup. Her attention was captured by the sticky substance as it spread across her breakfast.

Vanilla dried her hands while glancing at the clock. "I must be going," she calmly spoke before momentarily leaving the kitchen. She reentered with a light sweater sitting on her shoulders. "Good bye Sweetheart," she lovingly spoke, kissing Cream on the forehead. "And I'll see you when I come home, Amy."

"Good bye, Vanilla," she piped. The rabbit smiled back at her hired hedgehog. "Oh! And thank you for the pancakes!" Amy called out right before she heard a door click shut.

"So, Cream," Amy said as she finished off the last bite of her food, "shall we begin?" The you bunny eagerly nodded. "That would be lovely, Amy!" Cream nodded her head as she spoke, "But I think we should do something else."

Amy tilted her head in confusion as she swallowed her breakfast. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Cream began, "since it _is_ your first day here, I thought it would be most mannerable for me to introduce you to more of my friends. I do want you to be comfortable! After all, I don't expect you to spend all day working!"

The hedgehog slyly smiled at the idea of slacking on her first day. But the rabbit did have a point. Amy never saw herself as the best person to make friends on her own. She usually scared people off with her energetic outbursts. Cream could help her become acquainted with those around her.

"Okay then. What do you suggest we do?"

The rabbit brightened up when hearing Amy agree with her. Cream jumped off her chair and raised down the hall with a laugh. Amy remained where she was and watched the bunny disappear, only to see her soon return with a light sweater and a sleepy chao. It was easy to tell that Cream had just woken her best friend from slumber.

"So this is Cheese," Amy said aloud as she stood up and greeted the small animal. The hedgehog giggled as he purred against her touch.

"Come on, Amy!" Cream bounced ahead of Amy. She turned back, waiting for the girl to follow her. "Let's go meet my friend, Tails!"

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><p>Amy tilted her head in confusion when she heard multiple grunts coming from inside the garage. Cream blushed in embarrassment from her friends quirkiness. A loud racket was heard before they felt the ground shake.<p>

"What was that?" Amy almost yelled as she kept her balance. Cream knocked on the door once more, hoping the person inside would here.

"Hold on one second!" A voice from inside the building called out.

"Tails does a lot of work with tools. It usually goes well," Cream then looked off to the side, "other times it doesn't." The rabbit remember fully well last week when tails tried to put his Egg-O-Cooker, he doesn't create the best names, to use in her mother's kitchen. Instead of cooking eggs in less than a minute, it produced a gooey mess that stuck to the ceiling. Cream knew her mother doesn't want more inventions of his in the house.

A few locks on the door rattled. It swung open, hitting the wall, and revealing a young fox. He was breathing heavy as his shoulders slowly rose up and down. His blue eyes were round and wide. The fox had yellow fur with a little white. It was stained with dust and ash. Amy found it peculiar that he had two large tails instead of one, but she didn't make any comment towards it.

This was Miles Prower, also known as Tails.

He scratched the back of his head and apologetically laughed. "Sorry for the wait! Come on in!"

Cream was the first to step through the doorway. Amy followed behind her at a much slower pace. She looked around the room and took in the smell of gasoline. Tools hung along the walls and piled up in boxes on tables. The concrete floor was mostly swept, except for the recent work area. A plane was parked in the middle of the garage. A hatch was opened at the top, revealing wires of multiple colors.

Amy smiled at the fox. He smiled back and held out his hand. "You can call me Tails."

"Amy Rose."

He had a firm grip as he eagerly shook her hand.

"You must be the governess. Cream was excited for you to come. Although, you look young to be a governess."

Amy was young. Most governesses had just gotten out of college.

"I just graduated high-school," she admitted.

"So you don't have a teaching degree?"

Amy shook her head. "No. I will be expecting to return to school later on and get one. I don't need one for Cream. I'm mostly teaching her things such as piano and basics. Nothing really needed for a degree," Amy clairified.

"Oh!" Tails seemed very interested in the pink hedgehog. "So you're like a tutor!"

"I guess you can put it that way. But instead I'm being paid with a house."

Tails walked over to a wooden table. He placed goggles on his head. "Well, Amy, it's very nice to meet you."

He turned his attention towards Cream. The two held gazes with each other and smiled. "I am sorry to be a bad host," Tails sheepishly said, "but I was planning on meeting with the others. But you are more than welcomed to come!"

"We don't want to be a burden," Cream's manners were more than well.

Tails shook his head at her response. "Nonsense! You would never be a burden to me! Also, this is a great time for Amy to meet the others! Rouge and Knuckles will be there!"

Cream couldn't refuse the invite now. Tails had just flattered her, whether if he realized it or not. "Then we will come."

The three then left Tails's living space. They walked down the road. Cream and Tails were in a deep conversation, leaving Amy to fall silent. She thought on how this small town was so much more different than the greater city. Cars didn't roar on every corner. It was peaceful. She liked it.

After some time, a concrete sidewalk abruptly started. There was a strip of buildings on bother sides of the road. This area seemed to be the center of the area. It was still quiet, even though she could see some people.

"Hey, Amy!" A voice called out. All three turned their heads to see a familiar person running towards them. It was the one and only Cryssi. She had on her same attire as before. Amy could conclude that was her main clothing set.

"Hi!" She waved as the dog stopped in front of the small group.

"Are you enjoying your time here so far?" Amy nodded in response to the question. "It's a very lovely place. Everything is so beautiful! And everyone is so nice!" Amy then thought back to the egoistic blue hedgehog she had mat the other day. "_Almost everyone,_" she thought to herself.

Cryssi beamed at the response. "That's great!" She paused for a moment. "So where are you guys heading?"

"I'm meeting up with the rest of 'em," Tails answered as her nodded his head towards a small store. Cryssi glanced at it before turning her attention back to them.

"I told Rouge I'll meet up with her later," Cryssi shrugged in response. "I just stopped by to pick some things up for the farm. Which reminds me," she started backing away, "I better hurry! Father will have a fit if I'm late! Bye guys!" She waved at each of them before running off in the direction she came from and disappearing into another building.

"That girl," Amy steadily said as they began walking once more, "is very energetic."

They approached a safe looking cafe. There was a front porch set up with two tables for out door dining. Large windows were set around it, giving a view to the inside. Tails grabbed the door handle with his hand.

"That's Cryssi for you. She comes and goes fast."

He pulled onto the heavy looking door. The two girls walked in first as tails held the door opened for them. Bright lights hung down from the ceiling over tables and bars. The floor was tiled with black and white checkers.

Tails lead the way to a small group that occupied most of the customers in the diner. A bat sat on the edge of the table, talking to a echinda seated in front of her. She wore a layer of makeup on her pretty face. Her fur was a solid white that clashed with her dark purple jumpsuit. The neckline hung low, exposing a great deal of her chest. Amy averted her eyes away from it.

The echinda was red with a tanned nuzzle. He leaned back into the booth with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a smirk plastered over it face as he looked up at the bat. Amy noted how his gloved hands had sharply pointed knuckles on them. Amy wondered if that was an attachment or if his knuckles were really sharp.

Three more people sat with them: a large crocodile, a small bee, and a chameleon. The crocodile had headphones on his head, although it was quite strange since they weren't hooked up to a device. A thick, golden chain was worn around his neck. He had matching black boots and wrist bands. The bee was flying over the chameleon's shoulder. He wore a helmet over his head and a thick, orange vest. His orange sneakers were laced up. The purple chameleon looked at them with a bored expression. Like the echinda, he had his arms folded over his chest.

All five seated around the table looked up at Cream and Tails. Their attention soon turned to Amy.

"Amy," Tails introduced, " these arm my friends." He pointed to each individual as he said their names, "Rouge, Knuckles, Vector, Charmy, and Espio." Tails looked upon the group. He noted how someone was missing. "Where's Sonic?"

"Probably sleeping," Knuckles the Echinda answered with a snort.

Rouge crossed her legs as she sat upon the table. "At least he gets his rest. You sir could use a few years worth of beauty sleep."

Amy could see a vein poke out in Knuckles forehead. Cream and Tails shared a nervous look. Both knew that a fight was about to erupt. Cream was actually surprised the manager never kicked Rouge and Knuckles out of the joint.

Vector grinned in amusement. "My bet is on the bat."

"You're on!" Charmy enthusiastically answered.

Amy realized that this wasn't a violent fight. The two were friends, she assumed. They threw back and forth playful insults. She actually laughed along with the others as Rouge called Knuckles a "tomato with a bad haircut."

In the end, Charmy ended up handing Vector five dollars, which he used to buy Amy a vanilla _milkshake._

"Thank you," Amy said with a smile as she sucked up the shake through a straw. It was cold as it spilled into her mouth. Vanilla was by far her most favorite flavor. She smiled in appreciation.

"So Amy," Rouge said as she leaned across the table, "where are you from?"

Amy swallowed a gulp of milkshake before answering. "A bigger city more west. I lived in an apartment in the down town."

Rouge nodded off as she didn't really get the exact answer she was looking for.

Amy continued to talk to her new friends for some time. Most of them knew what she had told Tails earlier.

"You are a high school student," Vector began, " or _were, _and you lived alone in an apartment?"

Amy fumbled with her hands. She nodded her head a little. "I never really had any parents." Her voice now sounded quiet around the touchy subject. Amy looked around her. Everyone looked sympathetic towards the girl, some even empathetic. "Don't worry!" Amy suddenly perked up. "I'm okay! I can't miss them if I never met them, right? And I'm not alone!" "_Anymore..._"

"I guess not," Rouge summed up.

Amy then smiled a true smile. It was nice having them not feel sorry for her. So many times people looked down at her like she was helpless and broken. But not here. Amy wasn't broken here. Her mind couldn't help but ask, "_Who here is? _"


	4. Drawing Conclusions

**Here is a new chapter!**

**I do not own all characters.**

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><p>Sonic ran through the woods. He darted side to side through the trees. Wind blew his quills back as he took it in. He could never get tired, even though he slept half of the time. Sonic would run miles and miles without even breaking a sweat.<p>

He grinned as he approached an alone building. It was plain and small. It remained hidden deep in the trees. Sonic skidded to a stop in front of the door. He knocked on the door. Once... Twice... He then knocked quickly nonstop, waiting for the owner of the house to answer.

Something hit the other side of the door. It gave a loud thump that caused a few birds to fly away. Sonic stopped knocking upon this and withdrew his hand. He instead opened the door for himself. Inside the house, it was dark. Sonic heard a scraping noise as he pushed the door forward. Looking down, he saw a gun lying on the floor against the door.

Sonic shook his head to himself. He bent down and picked it up. The black pistol felt strange in his hand. Sonic never held guns. He wasn't a fan of them.

He turned his head down the hall. There he saw Shadow the Hedgehog sitting at a table reading through files.

"You know," Sonic announced as he towards the dark hedgehog, "you really shouldn't throw guns. Someone could get hurt." Sonic placed the weapon down on the table in front of Shadow.

"Isn't that the point?" Shadow didn't look up from his paperwork as he replied. His red eyes remained focused on coded messages.

"So watcha reading?" Sonic leaned over, trying to get a peak at the papers laid out. Shadow turned it out of the blue boy's view, even though he was sure Sonic would be unable to read it anyways.

"What do you want?" Shadow already sounded annoyed.

Sonic raised both of his hands in a surrender. He leaned back and took a seat a wooden chair across from Shadow. "Can't I just visit my dear, old, goth friend?" Sonic innocently asked.

Shadow glared at Sonic. His piercing stare didn't faze him as Sonic was used to it. Shadow was always ticked off when he was called "goth" by Sonic.

"Okay, you caught me," Sonic gave in, for once he was ready to discuss a serious matter. "I wanted to ask you about Eggman."

"You know I do not associate with him anymore."

"And yet you seem to know what always goes on with him."

Shadow rubbed the bridge of his nose as he set all his papers down. He neatly stacked them together and placed them inside a folder. Her slid the pile to the corner of the table. He the leaned back, letting his legs and hover shoed feet stretch out in front of him. He crossed his arms over his white chest, a manner he did often. "What do you want to know?"

"What is he up to?"

"Isn't he always up to something?"

"Yes, but what is it now? It was strange. Yesterday I went off to battle him since there were complaints down near the diner of Eggman snooping around. Only when I went down there I noticed that he wasn't harassing anyone. He headed into the library looking for something. My best guess is a book. But with all the technology he has, why get a book, you know?"

Shadow just nodded his head in response. To him, it just seemed like another pointless attempt by Eggman. It was normal Eggman behavior. Just going around taking what he can get.

Sonic stood up and rubbed his chin. "Of course after I confront him we broke into a battle. I would have won right away but something caught me off guard."

"Either you tell what is going on or you're just a waste of my time." This was Shadow's way of saying "Get to the point." Unsurprisingly, this was him being patient.

"He said, and I quote, 'You cannot get in my way this time. I will not let you. One way or another, I _will_ kill you.' He said he wanted to kill me! Can you believe that?"

Shadow stood up and put the file away on a book shelf. "Yes I can, idiot. He's your enemy, of course he wants you dead. A lot of people do. Frankly, I'm one of them."

Sonic ignored Shadow's comment. He knew he didn't mean it. They had decided to put their differences aside and actually be friends. Something Shadow will never admit, Sonic was one of his only friends.

Sonic sighed. "Don't you get it? Eggman is getting really serious. He has never wanted me dead. Think of all the times he could've killed me but didn't. What ever he is doing, it's big."

Shadow picked his gun off the table and moved it to the book shelf. He then turned his attention back to Sonic. Their eyes locked for a moment. Shadow saw that Sonic meant what he said and really wanted his help.

"I'll see what I can do," was all Shadow answered. He turned his back to Sonic and strolled towards the front door. Sonic quickly looked around the room. It was so plain and neatly kept. The walls were a plain white as the floor was a simple light wood. There was only one book shelf with everything organized neatly. The table they had just occupied had only two chairs. No photo graphs decorated the room. The house itself was mostly empty. You wouldn't be able to tell if anyone had lived there or not.

"Thanks Shads!" Sonic called as he ran ahead of Shadow. The blue blur dashed out of the house and to the edge of the woods.

"Don't call me 'Shads'," Shadow grumbled to himself. He shook his head and clicked the heels of his shoes, turning them on. Shadow proceeded to skate off into the opposite direction.

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><p>Sonic approached a common diner. Through the window he could see his friends all hanging out. Walking in, he noticed the girl he had met yesterday. She had stood over him for the brief moment that he had fallen unconscious. Sonic was well aware of how she became frustrated with him after his comment towards her. At least he now knew he wouldn't have to worry too much about her.<p>

Sonic took a seat next to Tails at a four chaired table. He looked across the isle to see Amy Rose, who sat next Espio and Charmy. He grinned when he saw the on coming show of Rouge and Knuckles. His two friends, more or less, were always fighting. Yet they seemed to be near each other all the time.

"Hi Sonic!" Tails said, catching his attention.

"Hi buddy! What's up?"

"I'd like you to meet Amy." Tails motioned his hand towards the pink hedgehog. She and Sonic met eyes before Amy looked down at a milk shake in front of her. The girl fully remembered Sonic's attitude towards her. "Narcissistic" was the only she could think of to describe Sonic.

Sonic briefly nodded his head, shrugging off the slightly awkward situation. "Yes," he said towards Tails, "we actually already met."

"Yesterday, Amy and I ran into Sonic fighting Eggman," Cream included. "Or he ran into us."

Tails became alarmed upon these news. "You were fighting Eggman? And you didn't tell me!?" Sonic laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, it must've slipped my mind." Tails frowned in Sonic's direction. The blue hedgehog gave an apologetic look to his friend.

"What were you two fighting about?" A sweet voice asked. Sonic turned his head to Amy. She sounded different now. She was more calm and peaceful instead of loud. "You and Eggman," she clarified.

"Well you see," Sonic began to explain who exactly Eggman was, "he's a bad guy. Always up to something. Most of the time it's just little things. Every once in a while he would come up with something big. I was just getting at him for harassing citizens."

Amy didn't like the idea of Eggman. She could always defend herself, but he was a professional villain.

"Don't worry," Sonic reassured her as he saw her distressed look, "he won't hurt you. I wont allow it. He isn't able to get to any of my friends as long as I am around."

Amy's eyes widened at this. "T-thanks," was all she could muster with a slight blush. "_This is odd_," Amy's mind pondered, "_I didn't really think he would say something like that. I was expecting more of a bloat about being the hero of the town." _

Everyone then resumed to normal conversation. Amy sipped down the rest of her shake while listening to Charmy talk about the secret behind making good honey. In the back of her mind she felt guilty. "_Maybe I was too quick to judge him. After all, I know almost nothing about Sonic the Hedgehog._"


	5. Can't Judge a Hedgehog

**Chapter: Can't Judge a Hedgehog**

**ANOTHER CHAPTER! They're coming fast guys! Wooooo! **

**Just a side note: don't get used to it, guys. I write when I can sit down for about three hours straight and type.**

**Again, I do not own all characters.**

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><p>It has been a week since Amy moved in with Cream and Vanilla. Everything seems... normal. She hadn't run into Eggman again. From what she has heard, no one has seen him since the day she arrived. Amy always got a nervous feeling at the mention of Eggman. Everything here was so different. She never had to deal with villains before. Amy decided to keep her feelings on the topic to herself. If this didn't bother Cream, then it shouldn't bother her.<p>

Amy hummed to herself as she walked under the trees. She glanced up to see the blue sky peak between the green leaves. She wrapped her pink sweater around her body tighter as a breeze blew. The trees rustled against one another. It was more cool in the middle of the forest without direct sunlight hitting the forest floor.

Amy sighed to herself as she finished the same song for the fifth time. She had to admit she was lost. The worst part was that she was also alone without a map.

"I don't know why I bother exploring," she mumbled to herself, "I always end up lost. It's like my talent." Amy glanced around her once more. She brushed her bangs back, only to have them fall back onto her face. She huffed in annoyance and folded her arms, pouting to herself.

Amy took this time to look down at her boots. She couldn't see it, but she could feel her socks have fallen into bunches around her heels. This aggravated her even more.

Amy bent over. She reached into her shoes and began to straighten out the hem of her socks. This made walking feel much more comfortable for her.

Amy then heard a whooshing sound. The trees rustled along with this growing noise. Amy tilted her head to the side in the direction of this noise. Ahead of her, a dark blur came charging. Amy didn't have enough time to straighten up and move out of the way. She shrieked as this mysterious object tumbled over her, knocking the girl to the ground.

With a small groan, Amy raised her head from the grass. She looked over to see another hedgehog a few feet away from her. He was mostly black furred. Red stripes ran along the tops of his quills. White fur puffed from his chest.

Amy's surprised look changed when she saw his cold, red eyes. She became more confused from his look that made her feel uneasy.

"Watch where you're going," the dark hedgehog ordered. His voice was low as he turned his back to Amy.

Before the hedgehog could run off, she interrupted him. "Wait!" He looked back over his shoulder with an annoyed expression. "First off," Amy raised her index finger, "you ran into me. Secondly, can you tell me where I am?"

"In the woods," he stated obviously. Amy furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, I know that," she quietly said, trying to control her temper. "I meant am I close to the outside? Or, even better, can you tell me how to get out?"

The male hedgehog then turned around, giving her his full attention. "Wouldn't you just turn around and go the way you came?"

"I tried that already," Amy explained, "I guess I made a wrong turn. I'm kinda lost..." Her voice slowly trailed off as she admitted it sheepishly. Amy's cheeks slightly glowed red from embarrassment.

A long sigh escaped from between his lips. "Your problems do not concern me." He kicked the back of his heels. This then allowed him to hover over the ground. He was able to take only two gliding steps before Amy stopped him.

"Please!" she called, reaching out to him. "I don't know how to get back. I only recently moved here. I doubt any of my friends go this way. Please just help me."

He looked upon the young girl. Her eyes were wide as green shinned from them. She puckered out her bottom lip as she begged.

He took pity on her. Which was strange. A few years ago he would've left a young girl alone with no help, he would probably do the same thing to this day if it was with a man. "_Hmm,_" he thought as he gazed at the pink hedgehog, "_I guess Sonic has changed me more than I would like._"

"Where to?"

Amy then smiled brightly as she clapped her hands together. She skipped closer to him. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Shadow gritted his teeth at her sudden outburst as he leaned back slightly. "I asked 'Where to'," he informed her, not wanting any other talk.

"Do you know where Cream and Vanilla live?" Amy tilted her head as she asked. He nodded once. He knew where everyone in the whole town lived. It's beneficial to memorize the entire area, just in case.

Amy held her hand out. "I'm Amy Rose!" She cheerfully announced.

"Shadow."

Shadow stared at her hand for a moment. He then proceeded to grab hers. His grip was light at first. He then forcefully pulled her towards him. Amy gasped as she fell into his chest. Her ear twitched as his fur brushed it, tickling her.

Amy then tried to push him away, shouting, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" at the same time.

Shadow rolled his eyes at this. Her weak struggling was pointless. "Will you calm down?" He didn't bother to hide his irritated tone. Amy stopped her fussing at his burst and looked up at Shadow. Her green orbs met his red. Shadow then swung his arm under her knee. He caught her and held the girl in a bridal style.

"Why the heck are you carrying me?!" Amy yelled at him, her face clearly blushing. By Amy's age, 18, most girls have been often close to guys on dates. She could only think of a few numbered times she has been with a guy, and those times were over 2 years ago.

"This is the most efficient way to get you home," Shadow stated. "It's the fastest." With that, they took off. Amy let out a quick shriek at the impact of wind hitting her face. Her head flew back into Shadow's shoulder. Amy squeezed her eyes shut and folded her ears back.

This speed reminded her of someone. Sonic the Hedgehog. Amy had seen him run at a miraculous pace. Shadow can do the same as well. Does that mean that he too was a hero? Did both of the fast hedgehogs work against Eggman?

Soon the pressure died down. Amy opened her eyes to see the door of her new home in front of her.

"_Wow," _she thought amazed, "_th__at was fast._"

Shadow removed his arm from under her knees, allowing Amy to stand. She felt slightly wobbly after moving at such a speed. She placed her hand on the door and leaned against it. Amy rubbed her forehead as she felt dizzy. When she looked up with a more cleared vision, she saw that Shadow already began to walk away.

"Wait!" Amy called out to him once more. Shadow stopped with an annoyed sigh. "What is it now?" he growled. Amy was only fazed for a moment by his voice. "Are you related to Sonic the Hedgehog?" Amy questioned.

Shadow looked at her as if she was crazy. Maybe she was. "No." He flatly said. Amy's mouth formed an 'O' as she looked off to the side.

She expected for him to run off, but instead he asked her a question. "What would make you think that?"

Amy raised her hand and covered her bottom lip with it as she spoke. "It's just that you two," she gestured in Shadow's direction, "run really fast. I've never seen anyone else run like that. I was just assuming that it would be genetic."

Shadow shook his head, answering a "no." "Unlike Sonic," he began to clarify, "I wear hover shoes. These give me the ability to run like him. Sonic is just naturally fast."

Silence stretched out between the two. Finally, Shadow asked another question. "Are you and Sonic friends?"

Amy forced a laugh to release tension from the air. "I wouldn't say he's my friend. I just met him. He is quite confusing. First, he makes a narcissistic comment. Then, he goes on and acts all nice. Is he really egotistic? Maybe I was too quick to judge him..."

"No. You are right. Sonic is very much in love with himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought himself chocolate," Shadow deadpanned.

Amy seemed disappointed at his response. It was as if she was hoping for something more. Amy frowned as she thought to herself. "_So I was right. Sonic is just-_"_  
><em>

"I don't usually give a good word of someone," Shadow interrupted her thoughts, "but Sonic is a good person."

Amy was slightly surprised. Her eyes widened at Shadow, who just cast a bored expression back.

"From what I can tell, you don't know much about him."

With that, Shadow sped off. This time, he didn't even glance back.

Amy was left stunned. She knew she didn't know much about Sonic, but usually she could tell how a person is from the way they act. "_So Sonic isn't how I think, what ever that may be. He wouldn't be, he has so many friends. They must like him if he is nice. But still. I feel as if Shadow knew something. What could it be?_"

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><p><strong>So what I learned from this chapter, Shadow might have a soft side for little girls. (Yes, his soft side is as soft as a ton of bricks.)<strong>

**You know, I always save what I write after about each paragraph. Of course the one time I write half of a chapter without saving my computer shuts down. I was displeased to rewrite the rest of this chapter again. But I must! I had to! So here it is!**

**Personally, this hasn't been the best chapter. I'm not saying it's bad, it just isn't my favorite out of the ones I've written so far...**

**Have a good day.**


	6. Unexpected Plans

**Chapter: Unexpected Plans **

**This is something I like. I feel as if this chapter will really help push the story into action now. **

**Sorry to bother you guys with the whole "thanks" thing, but to those of you who have commented so far, thank you. They're so supportive that I wish I could give you all something, but sadly I don't have the capability. **

**All characters belong to their respective owner.**

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><p>Sonic slowed down as he approached the front door of the diner. He raised his hand to the door handle and peaked through the window. It was mostly empty except for a worker washing the counter, a mother and daughter sitting at a table, and a certain pink hedgehog with a small rabbit at a booth. Sonic pulled the door open. A bell rung throughout the store as he entered.<p>

Amy looked up from her vanilla milkshake towards Sonic. She couldn't help but think of her short conversation with Shadow. Now, she decided to give Sonic a try. "_Try to learn something about him_," she suggested to herself.

"Hey guys," Sonic greeted as he took a seat next to Cream, facing Amy. "Hello, Mr. Sonic," Cream politely said as she scooted over to give him more space.

"_Be nice_," Amy commanded. "_Say hi._"

"Hi, Sonic!" Amy smiled brightly. Her voice echoed louder than she was intending. Both Sonic and Cream raised an eyebrow at the pink hedgehog. Amy slowly looked around the room to see that everyone else had stopped their occupations. She blushed with great embarrassment and sunk into her seat, wishing she could disappear.

"_Nice, not chaotically excited!"_

"Um, hello to you too?" Sonic awkwardly said with confusion. "Anyways, Cream, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't need to call me 'Mr. Sonic.'" Cream looked down and pet the chao that sat promptly on her lap. "I'm sorry, it's just a habit."

Sonic smiled at his younger friend. "Don't worry about it. Hey, where's everyone else?" He noticed the emptiness of the place. Usually around this time some of their friends would be here.

"I believe they are all busy," Cream said as she tried to recall what everyone was up to.

Amy recovered from her moment and answered, "Tails had to fly out and pick things up a few countries over, Knuckles is watching his emerald, Rouge is trying to steal his emerald, and the Team Chaotix had some urgent stuff to check up on."

Sonic pouted and groaned as he leaned forward on the table. Both Amy and Cream exchanged looks as the observed the odd hedgehog. After his episode, Sonic leaned back on the chair. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, do you guys wanna hang out?"

Cream seemed surprised at his question. "You want to hang out with us? Wouldn't you rather run?"

"It's supposed to rain soon," Sonic thought back to the darker clouds he saw earlier. Sonic slightly shivered at the thought of being soaked in water.

"Actually," Amy began as she motioned to the large windows at the front of the diner, "it _is_ raining."

Water hit the windows and blurred the vision to the outside. The glass was thick enough to the point where you couldn't hear the rough patter of the pour. Streams were slowly building up to flood the roads around and soak up the grass.

Cream gasped as she looked outside. "I should really get home! Mother would really like it if I was there to help her close up all the windows."

Sonic scooted out of the booth and stood up to let Cream out. Amy began to stand up with Cream as well to leave. "Wait, Amy," Cream said as she looked upon the girl. "Mr. So-, I mean Sonic, _did_ ask for our company. It would be rude to leave him alone."

"I guess..." Amy trailed off as she and Sonic met eyes. She never been alone with him before. Amy wasn't sure how she felt about this. "Actually Cream," Amy still hadn't looked away from Sonic, "I don't know how your mother would feel if I let you walk home alone in the rain."

Cream giggled to herself. "Don't worry, I won't be alone. I have Cheese with me."

Before anymore retorts could be made, Cream skipped out of the room with cheese in her arms. Amy could've sworn she had saw a mysterious glint in her eyes. The rabbit is up to something. Amy pushed that thought away. Cream couldn't be, she's far too innocent to be suspicious.

Amy gave up and slumped down into her chair. She stared at the edge of the table as she slurped up more of her vanilla milkshake. Sonic debated on whether or not he should run the other way and leave Amy behind. In the end he sat facing Amy.

Moments of awkward glances passed between them. Amy continued to think to herself. She wondered what the right thing would be to say to Sonic. For her time here, she had ignored him most of the time. But now Amy does realize the she knows not much about Sonic. The pink hedgehog wants to find out more of him. "_But where should I start..._"

"I know you don't like me."

Amy looked up from her lap and faced Sonic. Not paying attention, she didn't quite get what he had said. "What?"

"I _said_," Sonic emphasized, "'I know you don't like me.' It's kind of obvious. Ever since we met you've been ignoring me. I mean the first ten seconds we met you were really nice, but after that you never really tried to be my friend."

Amy crossed her arms over her chest. She was not the bad guy here. "I don't see you making an attempt either."

Sonic mimicked her. He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. Both gave each other the same stare.

"You didn't deny hating me." Sonic stated. Amy thought about it. She really didn't hate Sonic. There was no great reason to other than one narcissistic comment. Amy thought over the comment. It just made her a little insulted. But thinking it over once more, it was also slightly amusing.

Amy didn't answer to Sonic. The blue hedgehog then decided to answer for himself.

"Nah that can't be," his eyes suddenly turned playful, "after all, 90% of the world loves me. The other 10% haven't met me yet."

Amy glared at Sonic after _another_ self absorbed comment from him. Sonic just stared back her, his green eyes were still friendly. It was a moment before a miracle happened. Both Amy and Sonic burst out laughing at the same time. Amy squeezed her eyes shut as small giggles left her mouth. Sonic stopped laughing as Amy slowly came to a stop as well.

"No," Amy breathed, "I don't hate you. I am sorry I made you think that."

"Oh really?" Sonic quirked an eyebrow at her. "Then why did you practically ignore me?"

Amy shrugged. Now that she thought of it, her quick grudge seemed pointless. All thoughts of "finding him out" vanished as the two smiled upon each other.

"Well I'm glad we got that cleared out of the way." Sonic admitted as he leaned back. He crossed his ankles and folded his hands behind his head. A content expression remained on his face as he closed his eyes.

Amy inspected him. She tilted her head as her eyes rested upon the blue hedgehog. Sonic's full quills were neatly kept like her own. They tilted downwards slightly behind his back.

"You aren't seriously going to take a nap in the middle of this diner," Amy said playfully, "are you?" Sonic opened one eye and glanced around with it.

"I was thinking about it but now that you mention it..." His voice trailed off as he rethought his actions. "Maybe not," he concluded. Sonic sat up and rested her forearms on the table as he leaned forward. Amy noticed how he eyed her desert drink. With a roll of her eyes she pushed the cup towards him. Sonic grinned as he drank from it, leaving a small pint left for Amy.

"You know," Sonic began with a mischievous hint to it, "I know a better place to take a nap." Amy's faced showed a slight horror as she leaned away from Sonic. "I'm not inviting you to come to my bed or anything!" Sonic defended himself quickly. "I'm just saying a better place we can hang out than here. I mean I _always_ come here and it can get a lil' old."

Amy tilted her chin up. "So what's this place?"

* * *

><p>Amy glanced around the room. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed. "You know, when you said you knew a better place, I wasn't really expecting Tails's living room!"<p>

She sat down near Sonic's feet as he laid onto the couch. He grinned to himself and he leaned further back. Although enjoying the comfort of his friend's home, Sonic still felt uncomfortable. He couldn't run because he didn't feel like carrying Amy along with him. Now that he thought about it, the risk of slipping seems better than walking in the rain and ending up smelling like wet hedgehog.

Amy twirled the end of her quills as she looked around the room. Sonic took in the room as well. He spent much time here before. Sonic could easily compare Shadow's house to Tails'. They were complete opposite. As Shadow's house was pale and empty, Tails's was clustered along the walls. Dark blue curtains hung loosely around the windows. A large screen TV was in the middle of the front wall. Tools piled up on the TV stands and book cases. Small knickknacks sat in front of stacked books on shelves. The carpeting was a soft tan that matched the slightly darker walls and blue couch. Sonic thought of it as more homey.

"You know," Amy realized, "why are we at Tails's house? We could've gone back to yours or Creams'... It just doesn't really feel right to trespass."

Sonic opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He made pictures out of the patterns he saw as he spoke. "Nah. I come here all the time! Tails usually leaves it unlocked for me. When it gets too cold I crash here for the night."

"Why don't you go back to your own house?"

"I'm homeless."

Amy gasped as her eyes widened. "You're a hobo!?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow at her outburst. He then gave a sophisticated look. "It's my life choice."

"Life choice? Who would choose to be poor?"

Sonic shook his head as he sat up. "I never said I was poor. Actually, I'm pretty rich. I just chose not to have a house. I have no use for it. I spend most of my time outside and running around in the freedom. I like to sleep outside as well. I also buy my food or eat something someone else made since I can't cook for the life of me."

Amy muttered something about Sonic being strange or odd. Only the sound of a ticking clock lingered on.

"You know I do own property," Sonic recalled. He tapped his chin with his index finger as he thought back. "It's not much though. I own only an acre. It has a house, a small house, off to the side. Meant for only a person or two. I never used it though. It's empty. The only furnishing in it are a king sized mattress and an empty dresser."

"What's the point of that?" Amy questioned him. She didn't understand the point of owning a house and land if it wont be used. Someone else might want it...

Sonic shrugged. "I guess.. maybe... some day I want to settle down in it." Sonic shook his head, getting rid of all serious thought. "Want a tour of the house?"

Amy shook her head, indicating a yes. Sonic motioned with his hand up the stairs. "Have fun exploring," was all he said as he leaned back and closed his eyes once more.

Amy squinted her eyes at him as she stood up and walked towards the staircase. She rested her hand on the railing and slowly ascended up the stairs. Each stair creaked under her feet as she made her way up.

Amy turned down the hallway. It was small and slim. A photograph of what appeared to be a green girl was hung upon the opened the first door on the right. It was a bathroom. The floor was covered in small, white tiles. The walls were painted an "earthly" green color. Amy could see two tooth brushes set on the side of the sink. She assumed one to be for Sonic. The girl slightly chuckled to herself. He practically lived here for free.

Amy backed up and quietly closed the door after her. She turned and continued down the hallway. She came to a white painted door. Amy opened and looked inside to see a bedroom. This room was empty. It didn't look like anyone actually lived in the room. '_Maybe this is where Sonic__ sleeps_,' Amy pondered as she glanced around.

She turned to the opposite side of the hallway. There was another door. She opened it to reveal another bedroom. This is where Tails slept. More objects crowded the place. Multiple photos in frames laid around the dresser and night stand. Amy shrugged off the fact that half of them were of Tails' plane. Amy walked around the foot of his bed. It was made neatly without a single unwanted crease in the comforter.

She then turned her head and looked out the window. It reminded her of the view she has in her room. The rain was gone and replaced by sunlight and clear skies. Hills of grass tumbled out in front of her. A thin line of trees landed at the edge of the field about half a mile away. Amy enjoyed that trees were around at some place. It was good that buildings didn't stack up over everything.

Amy pulled open the window. Fresh air came in with the scent of cut grass and flowers. The small breeze blew at the white curtains, causing them to float up in the room.

Now that it was nice out, Amy thought about returning to Cream. They already did their daily piano lessons, but she still liked the company of the young rabbit. Cream was by far Amy's best friend. Amy turned her back to leave. Something caught the corner of her eye. The pink hedgehog glanced back towards the window. She came close to it and leaned out. She squinted her eyes as an object approached at an alarming rate.

A hovering automobile was flying right towards the house. It was in the shape of a bowl with a point on the bottom. Amy noticed a yellow figure in it. '_Is that a robot?!...' _her mind screamed.

Before Amy could grab the window and shut it, a hand quickly pulled her away. Amy let out a light squeal until she realized she was facing Sonic. Sonic shushed her before he began pushing the girl out the door. "We should go," he spoke quickly, "Eggman's coming, and we haven't really been on good terms."

"I kind of figured that out," Amy ran down the stairs with Sonic right behind her. "Last time I saw him he looked like he wanted to kill you."

Sonic opened the front door and stood in front of Amy. "Climb onto my back," he ordered. Amy raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at him as she stared at his quills. "What?" she asked, feeling confused. "Just do it," Sonic commanded, rolling his eyes at the same time.

Amy placed her hands on his shoulders and jumped up. Sonic caught her under her knees. He boosted the girl up a little, for more comfort. Amy wrapped her around his neck, she was sure not to choke him. Her head rested on the side of Sonic's so she could see over his quills. Her chin remained on top of his shoulder. And both of their soft cheeks softly brushed on one another.

Sonic swallowed with a deep gulp, he felt tense. The blue blur ran off with Amy.

* * *

><p>When the robot arrived at the house, they were already gone. He grunted in frustration. The robot looked down at a small screen imprinted in the egg-mobile he used. Eggman's unpleasant face flashed on the small computer.<p>

"Doctor Eggman! Hello sir!" His tuned sound still managed to come out nervous.

A more grumpy voice came through the speakers. "_Hedgehog! Did you get him!_" It didn't come out like a question. It was a demand.

The yellow robot glanced into the house through the window. It was empty inside. The only sight of someone recently being there was the slight imprint on the couch. "W-well, no, not ex-actly," the robot stuttered.

"_Well what am I paying you for you buffoon?! Go get him, Decoe, and don't come back until you do!_" Eggman then cut the video chat off as the call ended. Decoe winced before sighing in relief.

The robot spoke aloud to himself. "Oh, Rocoe, on all the days to call in sick, you are lucky that this is the day." A moment of silence washed over Decoe as he thought about his dear metal friend, Rocoe. As he continued to think he realized that Rocoe is also a robot. Decoe then grumbled with great frustration as he flew off, "You dog! Playing hooky I see! For sake's, robots don't get sick!"

* * *

><p><strong>I've decided to end it there. A little light humor. <strong>

** Since I am on spring break I hope to post at least two chapters this week. I guess this is good bye my fellow readers.**


	7. The wrong One

**Here's one of the chapters I "promised". Really, I didn't promise you guys anything. I owe you nothing. Okay that's not true. I owe lots to you all for being supportive so... thanks. **

**Chapter: The Wrong One**

**Disclaimer: (Really is this even necessary, no. Then why do I do it sometimes. We all know I don't own this. Most characters in my story belong to either Sega or Archie. I already did a disclaimer before. You know what, this is my last disclaimer soooooooo...) Sonic, Amy, Shadow, Eggman, etc. etc. don't belong to me. I really just own Cryssi.**

* * *

><p>Sonic slowed down in front of Amy's home, the one she shared with Cream and Vanilla. The sounds of plates clattering from inside showed that they were setting up for dinner. Amy offered to allow Sonic in, but he kindly declined.<p>

"I really can't now," Sonic scratched the back of his head. "I have to inform Tails that I may have led an Eggbot to his house."

"'Eggbot'?" Amy was unfamiliar with the common term used.

"It's what we call Eggman's robots. He named them himself. Isn't it just creative?" Sonic added the sarcasm himself to the end. Amy gave a quiet chuckle to his attitude.

"Well, good bye then," she concluded their evening. Sonic waved once before turning on his heel. Both went their separate ways, not looking back.

* * *

><p>Sonic Lifted up his glove a little bit as he ran. This revealed a small watch communicator around his wrist. It had a small square screen and three simple buttons on it; one red, yellow, and green. Sonic pressed the yellow one. A call was then sent forwards.<p>

On the other end, a ringing was heard as Tails answered after the first sound.

"Sonic!"

"Hey, buddy!" He warmly greeted his best friend. Sonic spoke slightly louder than usual over the wind, even though it wasn't necessary since the communicator being Tails' technology, the microphone was well made.

"What's up?" he replied as he drove the X- Tornado on its way back from his travels.

"I just came to warn you that there may or may not be some one Eggy at your house. Although, he may have left now. I don't know."

"'Eggy'? Sonic, what's going on?"

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. He knew Eggman was up to something. It was just the beginning before something bad rises. "Again," Sonic sighed, "I don't know. Eggman is going to be sending his bots after me, Dork 1 & 2. He's up to something and doesn't want me to be there to stop it, only thing is that I always to. Big problem for him, eh?"

Tails laughed at Sonic's optimism. It was very true. "Okay then, I'll just loop around my house to check before landing. See you in about two hours."

"Good luck."

"You too."

With that, Sonic hung up and their call ended.

The blue hedgehog slowed down and was once again in front of Shadow's home. All of the lights were turned off, but he didn't bother to care. Whether or not Shadow was home, Sonic was going to intrude.

He knocked on the door a few times at a slow rhythm. No one answered. The house was empty. Sonic opened the door for himself. It squeaked as it slowly swung. Sonic noted that his door was always kept unlocked. Sonic thought back to the first time he brought it up. He had told Shadow that keeping his door unlocked isn't safe, there are robbers. Shadow's exact response was, "If a robber came, he would _break_ my door opened and steal something of no value. I would come home, notice my broken door, hunt him down, and get my belongings back. But if my door was unlocked he could just walk in and steal something of no value. I would come home, notice something was missing, hunt him down, and get my belongings. If I left my door unlocked it wouldn't get broken and I wouldn't have to fix it. And either way we are getting a dead robber."

Sonic smirked and shook his head at the thoughts of Shadow. His friend was weird. Not that Sonic himself wasn't odd. A blue hedgehog, running as fast as the speed of sound, and stuffing chili dogs down his throat, was not normal.

"Even though you aren't here I'm going to go through your fridge like I had permission to," Sonic called out, pretending that the owner of the house was present.

He walked through the dull rooms and into the small kitchen. It was quite obvious that this house was made for one person, a little less obvious that someone already lived there. Sonic felt bored when ever he looked upon the empty walls.

Sonic lightly tsked at the magnetless fridge. "The least he could do is hang up some goth art," Sonic mumbled to himself as he opened the fridge.

He looked down into. Although most of the house was lacking in furnishing, Shadow was loaded on food. Which slightly scared Sonic. He has never actually seen the black hedgehog eat before. "_Does Shadow eat?_" Sonic's mind questioned.

He was quickly distracted when he saw a note taped on top of pudding cups. It read:

"_**Sonic,**_

_** Don't even try to empty my fridge you pig. Go out and buy your own food. **_

_**And one more thing, get out of my house or else I'll pound your head into the floor. I mean**_** it.**"

Sonic grimaced as he held the letter. "Nah, he can't mean that."

Looking down, he saw another note was taped on the cups. He picked it up and read it aloud. "'_I mean it.'_"

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. He was slightly scared that Shadow knew what to say before tense. Sonic made an "O" shape with his mouth as he slowly put the note back in the fridge. He closed the fridge door and walked into the dining room. Sonic tried to sit comfortably on the wooden chair. He still thought that Shadow should get more furniture. There wasn't a single comfortable couch in the whole place.

It was quite and lifeless in the house. A steady ticking filled in for background sound from the clock. This carried on for awhile.

A click of the front door knob sounded. It swung opened as Shadow swiftly walked in. He was looking down, grinning at the green chaos emerald in his hand. In his other hand was a beige file folder. Only two papers suck out of it.

Shadow looked up as his smiled faltered. His red eyes settled upon a sleeping Sonic. Shadow loudly cleared his throat. "You know, it is rude to make yourself comforted in another's home."

Sonic opened his eyes. He hastily removed his feet from atop the table. Sonic straightened himself up as he collected his thoughts. "I- um- was **not** sleeping with my feet up. I know you dislike that."

Shadow rolled his eyes as he sat down across from Sonic. The dark hedgehog tucked away his emerald into his quills. He placed the file onto the table, letting it slide in front of Sonic. The hero picked it up and opened it to view the cleanly printed papers. There were only two written in a language he was unable to read.

"I haven't found exactly what you were looking for yet," Shadow sighed as he leaned back, "but that's a start."

Sonic stared at it confused. "Thanks, but," he shook his head, " I can't read a single thing on this. What does it say?"

Shadow reached over and pointed down at individual sets of digits. "Those numbers are dates," Shadow clarified. "And the writing is a form human use. I believe this is English. It's mostly confirmation on them. Nothing states what are going to happen on these days."

Sonic folded up the papers and tucked them away. He handed back the empty file to Shadow, who sarcastically said a thanks.

"This is getting really predictable though," Sonic rubbed his chin. "This is where Eggman goes quiet and plans things out for a few weeks."

Shadow removed his gun from him and set it down on the table. "What I don't understand," he pondered, "is why are you overthinking about it this time? You're usually a wing-it person, being stupid and just running into situations."

Sonic ignored Shadow's comment on him being "stupid". He stood up and glanced out the window. Now it had fallen dark and crickets filled the night air. Lightning bugs, thousands of them, glowed through the air. "I already told you," he justified, "Eggman, I believe, actually wants me dead. Usually he just tries to mess me up or so. But not this time..." His voice quietly trailed off.

Shadow stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "And how are you sure that this is the case?"

"Do you not remember anything?" Sonic tilted his head at Shadow. Shadow just glared at him. "He _said_ he wanted me dead."

* * *

><p>Amy stared out the window. The sun had already set and everything was dark. No city lights kept life buzzing. The full moon was bright and glowed, sending beams into her room.<p>

It was a hot night and inside it was stuffy. Amy was glad that she chose to wear her nightgown over pajama pants. The bottom half was loose and swayed freely around her thighs and upper legs. The silk fabric that clung to her chest was cool and kept her able to stand the heat.

She sighed at her reflection in the window before turning away. Amy didn't bother to climb under her bed sheets. She laid on top of the bed comforter and flipped over her pillow, allowing her head to sink into the cool side.

Amy lowered her heavy eye lids. Her breathing steadied as she fell still. The pink hedgehog was sleeping.

She never heard the window slide open. Or a robot slip into her room.

Decoe looked down at a tracker device. It quietly beeped in the dark room. The tracker scanned the sleeping figure. It showed up positive for being a hedgehog.

The robot couldn't see his victim, but he could only assume that it was Sonic the Hedgehog. He turned back to the window and reached into his Eggmobile. With this he took out a thick rope and a long piece of clothe. The robot left his device in the cart and turned back to "Sonic".

The robot was cautious as he stepped forward in the almost pitch black room. He made his way up to the side of the bed. Decoe set the rope down and held out the clothe by both ends. He slowly reached forward. Decoe had to be careful not to wake "Sonic". If he did then capturing him would be even more of a hassle than it already is.

As careful as he had to be, he also wanted to get this over with. The robot was not always dense and could sense something was up with Eggman lately. The old man has become more harsh and demanding. Decoe no longer felt as if he worked next to Eggman's side, some could question if he ever did. The robot knew he is just being used as a slave lately. There is never a time he isn't on some sort of mission. It's a miracle he has not ran out of battery power yet.

A slight tug in the middle of the fabric told him that it reached the face of the hedgehog. The small breathing that was heard escaping a pair of lips was also now muffled by this.

Decoe moved with even more care now. He continued to reach forward to wrap the cloth around their head. The thought of why the quills hung down and not stuck out behind the head did not occur to him. He made a first knot and pulled it tight. This was his second mistake. A hand quickly sprang up and grabbed at his arm. The person below began to squirm.

Decoe took this as a chance to work fast instead of slow and steady. His metal hands worked fast and finished the cloth with a double knot, this would keep them quiet. More metal arms sprang from his back and moved to hold down "Sonic".

He had not become aware that this person was a girl. Curse the bad lighting.

Decoe picked up the rope and proceeded to tie it around his victim. He wrapped up and down their torso and down to their waist. Along with this, he made sure that their arms were stuck to their sides as well. The hedgehog continued to squirm as much as they could, although now they were much more stiff.

The robot picked up the body easily and dropped them through the window and into the Eggmobile. He climbed in afterwards and drove at the steering wheel with his back facing the poor soul behind him.

"I've got you now, Sonic!" His robotic voice laughed evilly.

Amy's eyes widened as she did her best to sit up while leaning against the wall. "'_Sonic'? But that's not-_"

"I'm not Sonic!" She yelled. It came out as inaudible hums, nothing the piece of scrap metal could understand.

Wind blew Amy's quills back as her bangs flew up and over her forehead. It was hard to get a clear view of what was ahead of her. No street lights were there to give anything away. The moon beams were too weak to help. Multiple buttons on the control panel were shining. The green hue was just enough for her to see the outline of a figure that stood above her.

"_It's that robot!_" Her mind cried. Just recently she was hanging out with Sonic when he appeared. That now feels like forever ago.

Amy did her best to extend her leg. "_Maybe if I could reach far enough I could kick him._" She wanted to get his attention. To her dismay her foot swung out not far enough to reach him. She was just about an inch away from his leg.

Decoe quickly turned the steering wheel and made a sharp turn. Amy squeaked as fell to the side and rolled into another section of the wall. A loud thud echoed up to Decoe. The robot squinted his eyes and turned back to "Sonic".

Decoe flashed up a light over the scene. "Keep it down back-" The robot faltered as he looked over the hedgehog. He scratched his chin and raised a rusty eyebrow. "You look different. I can't quite put my finger on it." Amy sneered at him. "_Is he really this stupid?!_" The robots face lightened up as he snapped his fingers. "I got it! You got your hair trimmed." He paused for a moment as he thought over what he said. "Or I guess your _quills_ trimmed." He chuckled at his own joke.

Amy made an attempt to yell at him once more. "I am not Sonic!" And once more her words were muffled and could not be properly understood.

Decoe gave a puzzled expression at her. "'High Platonic'?" Amy rolled her eyes at him. "Sorry, but that doesn't make any sense." Decoe turned his back as he steered up to a building.

Amy tilted her head back as she saw them fly under a bright light. A section in a wall opened up as they entered through it. For sometime they went down a tunnel lined up with a dimmed lighting.

It was more cool than the sticky summer air. Even though being kidnapped, she was silently thankful for the inside AC.

With a few turns down multiple hallways, they were finally opened up into a larger room. Amy couldn't get a good view of her surroundings. She cursed being tied so tightly that she could only lie on her back. Amy observed the ceiling that hovered at least 50 feet over her. Bright, circular lights shone on her.

"You've finally returned." A gruff voice stated. A man turned around in his chair. His gut stuck out into his red coat. His nose was pink and pointy as it pierced forward. Small glasses covered his cold eyes. The man twirled the end of his bushy mustache with his lanky hand.

"Doctor Eggman!" Decoe greeted. The nervousness of his tone was not hidden as he spoke. If he could, Decoe would be soaked in sweat.

Eggman sneered at his robot. The voice was too loud for his liking. He shook his head in disappointment and went straight to the point. "Do you have him?"

Decoe nodded as he stepped to the side. This revealed the small, shivering hedgehog. Eggman's greedy expression immediately changed. He furiously frowned upon the view of a small, pink girl in a white nightgown.

"This... is... not..." Eggman said each word carefully and quietly. You could hear his breath at the end of each syllable with a sharp sneer. "Sonic!" He hollered the last word as he leaned in and screamed into Decoe's face.

Decoe became frantic and shook all over. He stepped back next to Amy. "I'm sorry sir! But they look just like Sonic!" His voice shook and almost broke as he spoke.

Eggman closed his eyes and rubbed both temples. "In what way?"

Decoe sat down onto one knee next to Amy. He pointed at her green eye. "Eyes. They look just like his!" Amy just glared up at the robot who was trying to justify himself. Decoe picked up one of her quills. "Same hair-"

"No it's not!" Eggman yelled over him. "Sonic is _blue, _you imbecile." Eggman quickly raised his arm in a dramatic gesture. "_This _is just a little, pink girl," he looked over Amy, "who just so happens to be a hedgehog."

His eyes widened as her face became familiar to him. "I know you! You're that little brat friend to Sonic! And where his friends go, so does he!" He gave a devilish grin.

"Decoe!" Eggman called out. "We'll keep her!" He barely looked over Amy before turning around to face a giant screened computer. "Go put her in a cell or something." And with that, Decoe was dismissed along with Amy.

* * *

><p>The robot walked right behind Amy. He continued to nudge her forward and step on her heels. The girl grunted each time he did that. Amy glared over her shoulder at Decoe.<p>

Decoe looked off to the side. "Now, now, don't give me that look," he sternly ordered. Amy ignored him. "Here," he said as her reached forward to the cloth. He untied it from around her head and let it fall to the ground. The two kept walking on, leaving the fabric behind.

"Let me go," Amy cried as she was forced to walk forward with two hands gripping at her arms.

Decoe almost instantly regretted allowing her to speak. "Can't do that. The boss told me to lock you up."

"Because being tied up isn't already secure," Amy sarcastically said in response.

They entered through another room. This one was much more darker than the other rooms. It was also very empty with only a single light hanging above a prisoner cell in the center. Along the walls hundreds of pipes ran through them and across the ceiling. Amy shivered when a wash of cold air brushed her face as they walked in.

Decoe unlocked and opened the metal door. He untied Amy and let the rope fall loosely around her ankles. Before the girl could make an attempt to run away, Decoe lightly shoved her forward, causing the girl to fall in.

Amy gasped as she fell over. The girl numbly landed on the cold hard floor. Her wrists felt sore as she laid on top of her forearms. Her legs were twisted amongst themselves.

Decoe quickly slammed the door shut. The metal bars vibrated as a loud sound bounced off the walls and ceiling. A turn of a key on a chain locked it tight. He waved the keys tauntingly in front of Amy, who looked up at him with a hurt expression.

The robot laughed to himself and began to leave.

Amy scrambled up to the side of the cage. She shivered as her shin was pressed into the ground. She grasped the bars with both hands. She shouted out to him. "Hey! Come back here! Don't leave me! Let me go!"

To her dismay, the girl was left alone in the large room. Amy furiously pulled onto the bars. She yelled in frustration. Without thinking, the girl stood up and moved back before kicking at the wall.

Amy collapsed where she had briefly stood, feeling exhausted. Her quills were messy and curled in different directions. Her chest quickly rose and sunk as small gasps escaped her lips.

Her green eyes looked up at the ceiling.

"_I wish I had my hammer with me_," she thought regrettably. Amy felt shameful that she left her hammer out and not tucked away.

Her round eyes continued to stare up. It didn't take long for a small detail to catch her attention. "_There are only four walls to this cell,_" her mind mischievously pondered.

Amy tiredly grinned with satisfaction.

* * *

><p><strong>If all goes well, I could get another chapter done before Monday. I don't have anything else to say. Bye!<strong>


	8. Break Out

**VERY IMPORTANT** (I'm lying) **So a thought occurred to me. You know how people give credit to the rightful owners. Well I want to read a fan story with the rightful owner as the author. I just think it would be funny to read "I own Sonic the Hedgehog." Although, if it was the owner, then would it be a fan story?**

**Chapter : Break Out**

* * *

><p>Steam rose up and over the oven. Crisp bacon sizzled on the frying pan as oil boiled around it. The scent of a fresh breakfast filled the air. It drifted out of the kitchen and into the living room.<p>

Sonic's nose twitched as he opened one eye. The blue hedgehog stretched out on the couch. He rubbed his eye lids a few times before blinking.

"Sonic!" a voice called from the kitchen. Tails turned off the stove and moved to the door way. He looked upon his friend that spent the night on the couch, again. Tails gave an amused smiled as a half awake Sonic greeted him.

"You know," Tails began, "I don't have a problem with you staying here, but I do have a spare bedroom. Why don't you sleep in the bed."

Sonic sat up and shook his head from side to side. "No can do, buddy," he announced. "If I sleep in a bed then that means I'm tied down there. I like to be free with no strings attached."

Tails shrugged his shoulders and hid his disappointed feeling. He didn't like how Sonic said that. It made him fear that his friend would run off at any minute and leave him behind for forever.

"Well, I've got breakfast made." Sonic smiled and jumped over the back of the couch. He patted Tails head as he walked by. The fox's eyes followed Sonic for a moment. He watched his friends sit down at the table and pull a plate of food closer to him.

It didn't take Tails a long time to think more carefully of what Sonic had said. The blue hedgehog practically lived with him, even if he didn't know it.

Tails pulled out the chair in front of Sonic. it screeched along the tiled floor. He sat down and fixed his own plate with eggs and french toast. Before he could pour the rich syrup over his meal, the phone rang through out the kitchen. He set down the bottle and picked up the hooked phone.

"Tails," a soft voice almost cried through the other end.

"Hello? Cream, is that you?"

"Oh, Tails," her heartbroken sound came once more as it called his name.

Tails frowned. He could imagine the girl shaken up with the phone held top her ear.

Sonic saw the sudden change in mood on Tail's face. He stopped eating and intently watched his younger buddy as he listened in on the conversation.

"Cream, what's wrong?"

"It's Amy..."

His eyes widened as he casted a worried look over to Sonic. Both bared the same expression.

"What about Amy? Is she alright?" Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of "Amy" coming for Tails' mouth.

"Well," Cream spoke slowly, carefully, "I don't know."

Tails furrowed his eyebrows. "You aren't making any sense."

the young rabbit suddenly spoke faster. She told Tails the whole story on how Amy unusually hadn't come down for their early breakfast. She was then also absent for the beginning of their piano lesson. When Cream went up to her room, Amy was no where to be found. She would have considered the idea of Amy moving away but everything was left out, even her hammer was left behind. Cream and Vanilla waited but the girl never came back.

"Don't worry, Cream," Tails quickly replied, "_we'll_ be there as soon as possible."

Tails quickly hung up as she said goodbye. Sonic stood up as soon as the call ended. Both shared a solemn look before Sonic ran out the house the Cream's. He didn't care that he didn't even know what trouble was coming.

The blue hedgehog slowed down upon his destination. Cream and Vanilla stood in front of the door leading into their house. The mother and daughter were wrapped in each other's arms. Cream had her face buried in Vanilla's chest. Cheese mimicked the same movement on her shoulder.

Vanilla's panicked face came to life once she saw Sonic. "Oh, Sonic!" she exclaimed loudly. "I'm so glad to see you." She gave a sad smile.

Sonic spoke calmly against their worried tones. "What happened to Amy?"

"She's missing!" Cream yelled. She left her mother embrace and cried into Sonic's.

He was taken aback at first but quickly collected himself. "Are you sure? Maybe she went on a walk..." He suggested to bring hope.

Cream sniffed and looked up at him. "But she would've told us."

Sonic had a feeling it had to deal with Eggman. With the robotic antics going on this just couldn't be an innocent coincidence.

"I'll find her," was all he stated.

It wasn't long for Tails to come with the X-Tornado. Wind blew back the long grass. Cream shielded her eye from the dirt that swayed up. The engine was cut off. Silence fell over them all.

Tails jumped down from the cockpit. He gave a weak smile to Cream and Vanilla. He nodded his head in a greet to both of them before turning to Sonic.

"I've called Knuckles and Rouge. They're helping us locate her."

Sonic folded his arms across his chest. He slowly shook his. "There's no need. I already know where she is."

Tails was surprised. "You do?" he almost yelled.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sonic question nonchalantly. Tails tilted his head towards Sonic, waiting for an answer. "Eggman. It's always Eggman! That Eggbrain is up to something. It's no coincidence that we saw his dumb robot yesterday. I'll be she even was taken last night as well." Sonic brought his hand to his chin. He gazed up as an answer was in the sky. "But why? What does Eggman need with her?"

"It could just be an accident," Tails pitched in. "It obviously wouldn't be the first time he messed up."

Sonic sighed. "I think we should more worry on getting her at the moment." Sonic turned back to Cream and Vanilla. Both girls had worried expressions with their hands folded over their chests. "Don't worry," Sonic smiled, "we'll be back soon."

He took off, leaving them in their dust. Tails frantically scrambled to his plain after realizing Sonic wasn't waiting for him. He waved to the rabbit family as he flew in the same direction Sonic went.

Tails pressed on a small blue button underneath a rectangular screen. Sonic's face came over the TV. The hedgehog was communicating with Tails through his watch system set up.

"So how exactly are we going to do this?" Tails skeptically asked as he realized they didn't have a plan.

The edges of his mouth twitched upward. "Again, isn't it obvious?" Tails couldn't help but smile in response. "I was thinking jumping in there, punching a few robots, kicking Eggman's big nose, and getting Amy. Sounds simple, right?"

"Okay Sonic," Tails said with a small laugh. The call ended as he sighed to himself. Tails couldn't help but think that this is more complicated than Sonic would like to admit. It may not have to do with Amy, but something is surely going on.

Tails then pressed the red button under the screen. Knuckles appeared on the screen.

"Hey Tails, we're doing what you said, although I don't really know where she could be."

"Meet us at Eggman's base."

* * *

><p>Shadow slowly strolled down the dark hallways of the familiar base. He slowly walked with one foot in front of the other another. The thought of how he once actually though of this place as his home disgusted him. Shadow was no good guy, but he didn't like the idea on how he worked from another, especially Eggman.<p>

I slowly turned his special green emerald in his right hand. The other carried another stack of files on information for Sonic. Shadow hadn't read the coded words yet. He'd rather do it in the privacy of his own home rather then risk getting caught by the fat man, even though he could chaos control out.

Shadow's sensitive hearing caught something The hedgehog looked back at the door he just passed. He retraced a couple of his steps back and stood in front of the large metal door. A few grunts echoed from it.

He tucked the emerald away and raised his hand to open it. He hesitated for a moment, only a moment, before pushing it open.

Shadow caught eyes instantly with another. He raised an eyebrow at the scene portrayed. "_It's that girl, what is she doing here?_"

Amy looked _down_ at Shadow. Her arms shook as she gripped on the metal bars. She looked towards the top of the cage and pulled herself up once more with another grunt. Amy swung up her leg and sat on the edge of the bars at the top of the prison. She silently hoped that he didn't see up her short nightgown.

Shadow walked further into the room with his arms folded over his white chest. "What are you doing here?"

Amy, who was out of breath, gave him a dubious look. "I could ask you the same thing."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I asked you first."

"Right," Amy sighed quietly to herself, even though Shadow heard her. "Eggman took me from my home." Amy gave a sad expression. But soon she furrowed her eyebrows with a frown. You could see a flame spark in her green eyes. "So now I'm breaking out. Idiot robot put my in a cell with only four walls, no ceiling."

It was then that the girl realized how high she actually was. Amy's legs hung about 20 feet up in the air. She nervously gulped. The thought of falling struck her as she knew it wouldn't feel well.

"Any day now," a cold, irritated voice spoke. She then realized that Shadow was actually waiting for her to come down and meet him.

She held on tight as she then swung her other leg over as well. Amy's grip was tight as she stood on the bar. She slowly took a step down and began a descent. She soon became comfortable and was able to step down faster.

Shadow kept his head tilted back as he watched her. "Don't go too fast," he ordered, "you'll slip and I won't catch you."

He could hear her growl, which honestly gave him the slightest thrill. Shadow shook his head as he then look down at the papers he held. He flipped open the tan file and skimmed through each paper. He boredly discarded anything that didn't interest or seem important. Some papers glided through the large room and onto the floor.

"Whoa!" cried Amy in the background. She almost fell but caught herself. The girl kept her arms wrapped around a pole for a few seconds as she regained her balance. She breathed out slowly. Only ten more feet to go...

Unfortunately, the whole building shook. Amy finally was unable to keep on descended and fell back. She let a shriek as the cold floor hit her. Amy could feel a thousand needles in her arm as her elbow banged on the tiles. Her thigh felt sore as she landed on it. Amy winced before looking up at Shadow.

He stared down at her with his taunting red eyes. "Told you I wouldn't catch you."

"Well aren't you help," she sarcastically said.

"Actually I am," Shadow said as he walked to the door. Her put his hand on it and held it wide opened. With a bob of his head he motioned for Amy to go along with him. "I am your escort," he thought for a moment, "that is if you want to get out. If not I would be more than happy to just let you go off on your own. It would save me some time."

Amy slowly pushed herself up. She could feel a striking pain in her ankle as she limped past Shadow. She did her best to refrain from showing her soreness. Her head was held high with what was left of her dignity.

"Shouldn't we be running to get out of here?" Amy asked as she noticed the two were casually walking down the halls.

Shadow stared ahead at the long passway. "Do you really fear Eggman?"

Amy shyly looked down at the floor. She slowly nodded a yes.

"Well you shouldn't be. Eggman is harmless. I've... grown up," Amy noted how he was careful at choosing his words, "with relatives of his. I, at one point, even worked for him." The girl gasped loudly at this. Shadow rolled his eyes. He sighed with an annoyed tone. "Well don't go calling the cops. If you don't get in my way anymore, I won't kill you, deal?"

Amy narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. "I can't make any promises," she mumbled. Shadow heard her, but decided it was better to ignore her comment.

"Eggman _is_ harmless." Amy casted a side glance at Shadow as he spoke. "But then why is even Sonic getting paranoid over him?" At Shadow's soft tone, she the knew he wasn't talking to her, but rather himself.

Amy Rose could be very forgetful. But there was something she remembered. Shadow and Sonic are friends. There was much about Sonic she didn't know. She remembered clearly how Shadow left her in crumbled thoughts days ago.

"Hey Shadow?" Amy's light voice asked for his attention. He just hummed in an answer. "When you said I didn't know much about Sonic, what exactly were you referring to?"

This was the first time in a while that he looked at her. His red eyes made her feel trapped. For a moment Amy almost stopped walking.

"Well why would it matter to you? I thought you two weren't friends."

"That changed. We are friends."

"Then maybe he would've told you."

"We only just became friends."

Shadow didn't seem surprised. Everyone liked Sonic, other than the people that tried to take over the world. Even the girl that claimed for him to be a jerky narcissist, which was only half true.

"I don't really think it's my right to tell. Forget I even said anything."

"_But how could I?_" Amy asked herself. There was a feeling within her. Something that was telling her she just had to know this.

"Really, Rose," Shadow coldly said, "why would you want to know?"

"_Rose?_" Amy narrowed her eyes for a moment. "_He can't even call me by my first name?_"

She sighed with a defeated look. "I don't know... It's not just me being nosey. I'm just determined to find out..."

Shadow stopped walking. He looked down at her. What he saw was more than the new girl. She wasn't just a pink hedgehog who had the capability of teaching the piano and tutoring over the summer. She was a little girl, a lonely little girl. And she _needed_ to know.

"I'll make a deal with you." Amy looked up at Shadow with a confused expression. "If you can prove to me that this information will truly help you, then I'll tell you."

"How do I prove it?"

"That's up to you."

Once more, the building shook. It had much more force this time as Amy almost fell over. An ear splitting crash echoed through her ears. Both Amy and Shadow turned back. Down the hall smoke and debris filtered the air. A small sizzle was heard in the background as it slowly settled.

"Looks like your friends are here." Shadow then stepped away from Amy. "Chaos control!" A green flash lit up the room. By the time Amy turned around all signs of the black and red hedgehog were gone.

She held off letting her mind wander and instead ran to the clutter.

* * *

><p><strong>So I decided to cut this chapter in half because of two things:<strong>

**1) I needed to update because I feel bad that I said I would upload on Monday about two weeks ago (whoops!)**

**2) This chapter would be waaaaaaaaay too long compared to the lengths my chapters usually are... other than my crazy long prologue. **

**Second half will be up later this week.**

**Next Chapter: I don't know what to title this yet. Break In? Head to Head?**


	9. Break In

**TAADAA!**

**Chapter: Break In**

* * *

><p>Sonic stood underneath the entrance. He looked up at the opening in the wall. No one came in or out of it. He could tell that Eggman then had let his guard down, or maybe that's what he wanted him to think.<p>

"Tails!" a deep voice called out. Both boys looked over to see knuckles running towards them with Rouge flying over his shoulder. The echidna raised a thick glove as he waved to both of them.

"Hello, boys!" Rouge smirked as she landed. Tails blushed slightly as he averted his eyes from the older woman.

Sonic cleared his throat. For once he wanted to get right down to business. "So do we know what we are doing?"

Tails raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to just wing it."

Sonic nodded his head. "That's what _I'm _going to do. I was expecting you guys to be more responsible."

Everyone rolled their eyes at his statement. As good of a hero Sonic was, he was also most defiantly irresponsible.

Rouge leaned closer to knuckles. She rested her hand on his shoulder and tilted her head towards him. Knuckles leaned back slightly as he felt claustrophobic by the girl. "Well Knuckie and I will distract his dumb-bots. That should make getting in there and rescuing that little girl easier for you guys."

Knuckles huffed and shrugged her hand off his shoulder. He took a few steps away from her with a glare. "Don't call me 'Knuckie'," he spat. Rouge glared back at him. She inhaled deeply to yell at him.

Before things could get out of hand, Tails stepped in between them. "Can we not start this now? Save it for another one of your dates." The enchidna and bat were astonished. Tails continued to talk before either protested that they weren't dating. "Anyways, Sonic, you may handle Eggman, I'll get Amy."

The blue hedgehog grinned with delight. He punched his left fist into the palm of his right hand and cracked his knuckles. Tails cringed inwardly at the popping sounds. Sonic payed no mind and stared a head determinedly. "I will make him fall face first before he could even blink!"

Tails laughed as he jumped back into his plane. The wings folded into a smaller and simple model as he took flight. He was able to just fit through the frame leading into the large building.

Rouge picked up Knuckles by his shoulders and flew behind Tails. They went down the dimly lit hallway. A rush of cool air brushed their skin as soft wind blew in their faces. Both groups turned in opposite directions.

Sonic smirked to himself before he also took off. He felt like he was running on clouds as his feet flew over the ground. He went up the long wall and into the building. He narrowed his eyes down the lengthy corridor. A small light at the end grew as he approached it. He skidded to a stop as he entered a large room.

A large man's back faced him. Even though no eyes set on Sonic, the man could feel his presence. A high pitched and greatly irritating laugh sang out.

Sonic narrowed his green eyes at the figure. He pointed accusingly up at the man that hovered above him. "Eggman!"

* * *

><p>Rouge briskly let go of knuckles. He landed on his feet and took a few steps before stopping. He looked up and down the dead room.<p>

Rouge snorted at the empty appearance. "You would expect Eggman to do some interior decorating." The red echidna shook his head. "Evil scientists don't have time to decorate."

Rouge landed on the ground and smirked at him. "But then what does he do during all the times between defeat and starting a new way to ruin our lives?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Lie in his own tears?" he guessed.

A small metal cling echoed in rhythm. It grew louder and louder as a robot neared. It was large and looked over sized. It had a small head with two glowing compartments to visually take in what it scanned. The arms were large in diameter and opened at the end to reveal guns instead of hands. The entire thing was painted in white, red, and a dark grey.

Rouge smirked up at the Eggbot. Knuckles did the same as cracked his fists up against one another. He then tilted his head to the side as another snap sounded.

He jumped forward and punched the robot straight into its chest. It stumbled backwards a few steps before regaining its balance. A decent dent remained in the center of the main body part. he was satisfied with the quick damage made.

Rouge jumped high over him and towards the robot. She raised up her foot and kicked at the head of the robot. It swung its arm out and knocked her off to the side. Rouge gritted her teeth as she landed on the floor.

Knuckles wasn't fazed by this and struck out another punch. This time the robot was more prepared. At the last second it moved its arm, causing Knuckles' fist to go up the gun.

His eyes widened as the arm light up. He could feel the beam spring through his fist and up his arm. The echidna felt as if the ground disappeared from underneath his feet. He soared backwards and hit a cold, hard wall. The wind was knocked right from his chest.

Rouge took this distraction as the moment to regain her composure. She ran a quick hand through her short, white hair. She then puffed out her chest in a dominate manner.

"Hey scrap metal!" she beckoned with a venom voice. The robot spun its head in her direction without moving its body. As soon as its sight set on the bat, Rouge changed her mood. She grinned and battered her eye lashes. She puckered her lips and blew a big kiss towards the robot. A heart flew directly into its eyes, causing it to fall into a trance.

The robot stood stunned, suddenly over taken by her beauty. Knuckles took his chance and jumped up. His spiky gloves hit the machine across its face. The direct hit with the opponents systems unarmed made great damage.

Rouge put her hands on her hips and grinned at Knuckles. "You couldn't do this without me."

* * *

><p>Tails was getting almost no where in his plane. It was too big, even when folded into its smallest form, for the narrow halls. He was really hoping that Amy was alright. It would be a shame if their new friend was scared off. He still wasn't completely sure as of why Eggman would take her.<p>

He knew he needed to hurry. Knowing the others, they were probably already almost done with whatever mission they were up to.

Tails huffed and decided to take it up a notch. He tilted the nose of the plane to the side a little so it faced the wall. With a quick press of a button a small bullet shot out of the nuzzle of a gun. It was just a flash quicker than the blinking of an eye.

The building rumbled in the contact with the weapon. The wall crumbled into piles of ash and smoke. Dust flew up and crowded his vision. Tails pulled on goggles over his face before his eyes could tear up.

"Hello?!" a voice called from over the ruckus. It was so small that the fox almost missed it.

"Hello?" he responded after he registered the call.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" the same voice spoke out again.

The haze cleared out slowly. A dark shadow drew closer and closer before stepping through.

Amy's look of worry cleared when she spotted Tails.

"Tails!" she exclaimed with pure joy. Her smile stretched wide as her green eyes glistened. "I'm so glad you found me! I just had the weirdest experience!" She skipped up towards the nose of the plane.

Tails returned her smile. "I'm sorry about that. I hope you aren't scared or anything."

Amy shook her head from left to right. "Oh no! Of course not! I'm a tough girl!"

"Well come on then! Sonic is probably waiting for us with the others."

Amy scrambled up onto the wing of the plane. She was quick to jump into the back seat of the X-Tornado. Tails turned the flying craft around and flew as fast as he could manage to get out of the building.

* * *

><p>Sonic found the place to be a maze. Only two minutes of running and he was already sure he was lost! It wouldn't be long before he gave up.<p>

"No," he grumbled to himself, "I've already been down this way! I know I have!"

He skidded to a stop and rubbed his temples. "I guess I haven't been in here for a while..."

"So you decided to come here yourself?"

Sonic snapped up his head. He spun around to catch his gaze with Shadow. He smiled and greeted the old friend. "Hey Shady Wady!"

The darker hedgehog glared at him. "That is by far the worst nickname you have ever called me. Stop trying. Now."

Sonic shrugged and flashed him a cocky smile. "I don't think I can do that."

Shadow rolled his eyes. He began pacing around Sonic so he stood in front of him. "I would have assumed that you would be with your friends. You know, the fox, the two lovers, and that pink girl."

Sonic's eyes widened at the mention of a pink girl. "You mean Amy?"

Shadow nodded his head once in confirmation. "I ran into her about five minutes ago. I flashed out and dropped off that information you wanted back at my house. You're lucky I came back. I decided it would be smart for me to redirect your friends, but I guess I could settle in telling you which way is the exit."

Sonic shook his head. "I came for Eggman. I need to have a showdown with that over-sized, diaper baby."

Shadow's sharply red eyes locked on Sonic. He could see the gleefulness of when it came to the mention of battle in his eyes. For someone who was supposed to be a local hero, he really did enjoy kicking other's butt. But now wasn't the time.

"I don't think it's right." Shadow folded his arms and straightened over Sonic's confused gaze. "Right now is not the time to harass Doctor Eggman. He is busy doing something. Would you rather destroy the little work he has so far into this project, only to have him start over again, or wait until he actually has something for you to defeat?"

Sonic's gaze lowered to the ground. When he looked back up, Shadow was walking in the opposite direction the blue blur was originally heading. "Your friends are this way." He pointed into a dark area that seemed endless.

With out a goodbye, Shadow flashed out once more, not intending to come back for the rest of the week.

Sonic glanced back in the direction he was guessing where Eggman remained. For a breath he considered to continue to pursue him, but decided against it.


	10. A Tale of Amy Rose

**Well here this is...**

**Chapter: A Tale of Amy Rose**

* * *

><p>Sonic jumped outside to see Tails, Rouge, Knuckles, and Amy standing in a circle. He was only able to hear the last bits of what Amy was speaking.<p>

"... and then there was suddenly all of this smoke everwhe- oh, hey Sonic."

Everyone turned and rested their eyes on Sonic. No one caught the fact that Amy had looked the blue hedgehog up and down. She couldn't help her vision travel to his feet and back to his face.

Sonic began to snicker to himself. Amy blushed in fear that he may have saw her. Everyone else looked confused.

"What's so funny?" Rouge skeptically questioned.

Sonic pointed at Amy. Everyone quickly turned their heads towards her. She raised one eyebrow. "What is it?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"You're still in your pajamas!" Sonic laughed louder this time.

Everyone sweat dropped at his immaturity.

"Very funny," the pink hedgehog sarcastically murmured.

Rouge rubbed her forehead. "Well I'm going to get get my beauty sleep since you guys woke me up so early."

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest and smirked at her. "No amount of sleep could help you."

Veins popped in Rouge's forehead. She chose this time to ignore what ever he had said. The bat casted one last glare at Knuckles before flying off to her own.

"Well Amy," Tails climbed back onto his plane. Amy was soon to jump into the seat behind him. "Lets take you home."

* * *

><p>The very first thing that happened at Cream's house were bone crushing hugs. Surprisingly, they were actually from Cheese. The little Chao had a lot of secret muscle in him. Amy could have sworn she heard her back crack.<p>

The girl was happy to finally change out of her night clothes. She preferred not to let everyone see her in what she wears to bed every night. It was quite embarrassing, and Sonic's laughing did not help her one bit.

She smiled down at the hammer she turned over in her hand. "I know I'm never letting you go again," she said aloud to the instrument. The over sized weapon was promptly tucked away with a_ 'poof'_.

She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled up her boots. Her gloves slipped on smoothly. Amy took one last glance in the mirror before heading down the stairs.

She noted that by now everyone else other than Cream and Cheese had left. The house seemed larger than before. It was more opened and she could breathe for once.

"Cream!" she called over the girl. Amy took a seat on the stool in front of the piano. Cream was quick to take a seat right next to the pink hedgehog.

"Remember where we start this song off," Amy stated. Cream moved her hands to the middle C position over the key boards. Amy set her hands at a lower octave.

She played along with Cream slowly. Some of the notes sounded choppy as they were supposed to be smooth and connected. Cream faltered at playing correct notes when the small song sped up. Once they were done they played the song once more. This continued to go on until Cream could at least correctly play half of it. Amy made notes here and there on what Cream needed to improve on.

"Amy," Cream said with a sigh, "this song is too hard! I can't play it like you!"

Amy smiled at the little girl. The song wasn't hard at all. It was very simple and quiet. It had a sad sound and didn't match the young rabbit's personality. "You just need to practice. Try again."

Cream squinted her eyes as she examined the music. "What song is this anyways?" The old music sheet was yellowed. It was clear that the music was hand written in pencil with a title missing.

"It's an old song, very uncommon. I heard it when I was little. I hadn't heard anyone else sing the song except this lady through a window. She always called it 'Silver Wind.' I never really knew what a silver wind was." Amy stared at the wall as she thought back to when she was younger.

Cream furrowed her eyebrows. "You listened to people through a window? Why?"

Amy shrugged. "I didn't really know those people. It would be weird if they ever saw me. So I would stay hidden and watch them sing to their own children."

"Why didn't your own parents sing to you?"

Amy started speaking more quietly now. "I never really known my parents. I don't know who took care of me as a baby but for as long as I could remember I lived on my own."

Cream lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Amy didnt look at all displeased. She gave a soft smile and patted the child on the back lightly. "Don't be, really. It's okay. I never knew my parents so I don't miss them. I can't grieve over someone I never knew. Also, they could be alive today, living like normal people."

Cream nodded in agreement. Both were silent as Amy continued to think of herself as a younger girl.

"I was six years old," she suddenly spoke up, "when I first heard that song." She gulped down at the memory. Everything was as clear to her as if she was staring at a picture right in front of her. "The streets weren't that crowded as it was a quiet evening and most people had gone off to bed or were inside eating a late dinner. I was just some small kid, too short for her own good, wandering the sidewalks..."

* * *

><p><em>The sun had just began to set. The sky was burning with the color orange. Shadows that had cast were six times the height of it's figure. Crying babies settled into their own dream land. Small children pouted as their mothers tucked them into a bed. <em>

_Amy Rose walked with one foot in front of the other with her shoulders back and head held high. Even if she tried to straighten onto her toes, she would still stand below three feet. _

_The young girl weaved through yards, searching for any picnic that had gotten left behind. She kept quiet as to not draw any unnecessary attention. Who would look at the lonesome girl anyways? Other than for her pink fur, she was a very plain hedgehog. Her quills spiked back and over her head. A green bow was firmly tied on her head. She kept on a white, button up polo with green sleeves and an orange tutu. The girl was able to make it far when walking in her blue tennis shoes._

_She could hear the birds' twitters grow silent. And through out all the stillness, one graceful sound remained. _

_An old voice humming echoed through a small window. Curiously, Amy walked up to the window. She stood up onto the tips of her toes to get a peek. A soft glow from a lamp blew into her face. She squinted her eyes and looked upon a middle aged raccoon and three smaller look-alikes of the mother._

_The woman had on a worn and faded, light blue blouse. A long, purple skirt hung from her waste and kissed the ground. A white apron with small stains was tied firmly onto her._

_"Please sing it again, mama," one of the small children pleaded. Their small head poked out from the big bed sheets._

_The other children nodded their head quickly, wishing to hear the song again._

_The mother laughed. "Okay, okay, one last time."_

_She fixed up and straightened the sheets of the bed closest to her. She cleared her voice and began to sing once more._

_"_Silver breeze, let it go..."

_Amy's ears perked at the first note. She savored the sweet honey voice. She let her eyes slowly close to the musical sounding. _

_"_Don't shy away from your greatest foe..."

_The woman leaned down and kissed her first child on the forehead. The oldest closed their eyes and quickly thought up of a dream. _

_"_Stand tall with pride..."

_The pink hedgehog gave a lazy smile. She pressed her back onto the wall and slide down it._

_"_All worries had died..."

_If only that were true. Life would be so much easier for the orphaned girl. But each day more and more worries piled on. Half of the problems the small child was unaware of._

_"_I'll bite my tongue..."

_The mother leaned down and kissed her second child who was already asleep. Soft snores vibrated from their throat and into the room._

_"'_Till the morning sung..."

_The pink child didn't know the meaning of this. The morning didn't sing. It was just the morning, it wouldn't be able to sing. _

_"_Oh how I wished for my lovers kiss..."

_The old raccoon took the hem of her apron and wiped the face of the smallest and youngest child. She then gave one last goodnight kiss._

_"_But I knew, it was all just imagined bliss..."

_It became shaded over Amy as the lamp was shut off with a quick click. Shadows developed her and dark colors danced behind her eyelids._

_"_Silver breeze, gone so long..."

_Amy snapped her eyes opened as she felt a presence close to her. She kept quiet as she looked above her. Two, slightly thick, arms stretched out and grabbed the handles of the swing out windows. They shut tightly, locking Amy out. She suddenly had a strange feeling of being alone. The last line became muffled through the closed windows._

_"_And I heard the morning song..."

* * *

><p>"I kept going to that house every night, " Amy continued. "This went on for two years. They never saw me. And if the mother was never there to sing, I would just sit under the window. I would watch the light from their lamp run over my skin until it was turned off."<p>

Cream titled her head as she looked down at the keyboard. "Only two years? What happened?"

Amy shrugged once more. "I guess they moved away or so. I would over hear the mom and dad talking at night sometimes. They used to live in some sort of kingdom that's not quite up to date with this century. Apparently they missed their old home greatly."

"After they left I began to search for that song. I already had it memorized forwards and backwards, but it would be so much better to hear someone else sing it. I never found it so I just wrote it out. I would go to this opened music store and sit at the piano for hours trying to get this song right. It took a while but I eventually got it."

"I never knew you were an orphan," Cream tried to refrain from silence.

"I don't really tell a lot of people that," Amy finally met Cream's gaze, "most of the time when I do they just give me a look as if I'm some sort of broken piece of glass. It's as if they think I need fixing and all they do is pity me."

"Don't worry, Amy," Cream smiled, "I wont think of you any different than I do now. You'll always be my best friend."

A pout was heard from across the room.

"Don't worry! You are my best friend too, Cheese!"

Both of the girls giggled.

* * *

><p>"That pink girl is interesting," Shadow said to Sonic from across the table. Sonic looked up from his stack of papers. He raised a curious eyebrow at his darker friend.<p>

"Don't tell me you are going to make your 'mark' on her or something," Sonic sounded deflated as he spoke. He gave a quirky grin to Shadow.

The dark hedgehog rolled his eyes. He resisted the urge to punch the smirk right off the, what he usually referred to Sonic as, blue idiot. "No, you pervert. She, for some odd reason, seemed very intrigued with you."

Sonic leaned back and cocked his chin up. "Jealous?"

Shadow glared at him. Sonic seemed to not want to take anything serious. Although recently he seemed to develop an obsession of what ever Eggman was doing. Shadow looked down at the papers spread over the table. Written out were lists of machine parts. They seemed harmless individually. It was a wonder on what they could do together.

Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. He just wanted this day to be over. Too bad for him that it was barely noon.

"You aren't planning on hanging out here all day, are you?" Shadow sighed and closed his eyes. He looked tired for once. Sonic wondered if he slept at all last night.

The blue hedgehog shook his head. "Nah, sorry I can't bother you all day, I just know how much you love my company." Shadow didn't. "I think I'm just going to hang around people today. I should check up on Amy too. I mean, she didn't look all shaken up earlier which is strange. Most people are terrified on their first kidnapping."

"Maybe," Shadow faked seeming very intrigued, "just maybe, she isn't shaken up. What about Miles? Did you tell him about what ever you're doing?"

This is the first time it has crossed Sonic's mind to tell Tails. He hadn't realized how he had been keeping to himself over the past couple weeks. He also didn't want to worry Tails too much.

"No I haven't," Sonic shamefully admitted. He wasn't sure if he exactly wanted to. If he told him now, he might hurt his best friends feelings from trusting Shadow with a task instead of handing it to the fox. But if he doesn't tell him now, he may never find out. Or find out later and feel betrayed. "Maybe he'll never find out. Hopefully..."

Shadow shook his head. "Look, Hedgehog, I may not know much about this friendship thing, but I don't think keeping secrets are the right thing to do."

Sonic stood up and walked towards the front door. "Those are mighty words for someone who only has secrets." With that he ran out, leaving behind an emotionless Shadow.

Sonic ran through the trees. He ran as fast as he could, hoping to tire himself out. Maybe then he could take a really long nap. Afterwards he would wake up for it to be evening. He would then pile up on food before sleeping for the night. "_If only,_" he thought longingly.

He continued to circle the multiple acres of land for about a hundred times. He finally slowed down when his breaths became shagged. Sonic bent over and leaned his hands onto his skinny knees. He heaved as his back arched. His legs weren't sore but his lungs burned. His throat felt as if he had swallowed coal.

Sonic fell back and leaned up against the nearest tree towards him. He looked ahead at the opened plains and tall grass. He never knew why so many people never came here. It was the best place to come to, in his opinion. It was so opened and peaceful.

Sonic closed his eyes and let his breath settle into a steady rhythm. The sun wrapped its warm blanket around him. He couldn't help but smile as he drifted away.

* * *

><p><strong>Two in one day! I hope this makes up for not posting in over a month!<strong>


	11. Burning On A Heat Wave

**I'm back in the groove of posting! Thank you summer vacation! It's a rainy day aka a writing day!**

**Chapter: Burning on a Heat Wave**

* * *

><p>June traveled by as fast as the flutter of a butterfly's wings. The days were quick and predictable. Every time the sun rose it seemed to come back hotter and hotter. It hadn't rained for two weeks and everyone were starting to burn up in the July atmosphere.<p>

"We could go to the beach," Rouge suggested over the table of sweating friends. The idea of fresh water pleased her.

Sonic on the other hand let out a long groan. He pouted and fell forward to rest his head on the table.

"I'll take that as a 'no'?" Amy curiously asked from beside him.

Tails smiled at his older friend's child like behavior. It was always amusing to see Sonic's reaction to things. They could be as spontaneous as predictable. "He doesn't like water," Tails explained.

Amy furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the hedgehog who kept his head on the table. "Literally five minutes ago he poured five water bottles onto himself. It smells like wet hedgehog in here."

Everyone, but Sonic, chuckled at her response. Amy smiled in feeling slightly pleased to have made them laugh.

"It's not just water though!" Sonic was full on ready to defend himself. He lifted his head and looked straight at Amy. "I shower so obviously I'm not afraid of water." Sonic inwardly cringed at the thought of a six foot deep pool or an exaggeration of wild waves at the beach. "It's swimming. I can't swim. I was never able to an to this day I still can't. Frankly, I don't want to either. Water is no good. I could drowned in it, even if I was able to swim. It could choke me. If you fall in water from high enough, you could die. And if-"

Amy cut Sonic off. "But if you fall too far you could die anyways, with or without water."

Sonic held his hands up in defense. "My point," he carried on, "is that water is evil."

"The inanimate, liquid water is _very_ evil," Amy sarcastically said.

Sonic gave Amy a peeved look. He slightly squinted his eyes at her, challenging her to make another comment. Amy just laughed along with everyone else. Sonic took this as his chance. He violently shook his head from side to side, allowing all of the left over bottled water to fall on Amy. The girl gasped as drops fell onto her face. She left her mouth hang open for a moment before glaring at Sonic. He had a pleased grin.

Rouge suddenly jumped up and yelled, "To the beach it is!"

"I can't go," Cryssi, who has been silent for a while, said.

Rouge rolled her eyes. She seemed to become tired and slightly annoyed with the dog. "I know, I know," Rouge waved her hand in the space in front of her, "you have to help your dad. That's all you ever been doing lately. Seriously, you never have time to hang out with us."

Cryssi frowned at Rouge. She narrowed her eyes that for once appeared dark. "Well sorry that it hasn't rained in forever. We may be facing a drought you know." Amy's eyes widened at how harsh she actually sounded. She never heard the dog speak like that. Cryssi seemed to always be quirky and lively, but not now. Everyone fell silent at the table. Cryssi's eyes traveled over everyone before landing on Sonic. He, for once, had nothing to say. "Bye," she mumbled before making a quick exit.

"What was that about?" Charmy asked, not caring about the elephant in the room.

Rouge ignored his question. "To the beach."

* * *

><p>It took a whole hour to convince Sonic to go to the beach. He caved in when Tails, his adorable friend, begged with puppy dog eyes. He also didn't mention that he still felt slightly guilty about not being completely truthful.<p>

Even though he agreed to go to the beach, he was _not _going in the water. He had to make that clear multiple times. Everyone understand even before he said it the first time, it was very noticeable that he was the only one not in a bathing suit.

Tails wore simple yellow trunks that seemed a size too big on his skinny legs. Knuckles had on green swimming trunks with a black, short-sleeved rash shirt. Cream was happy to wear yellow full piece with an orange skirt for the first time of the year. Amy also wore her solid hotpink, flyaway bandeau tankini for the first time. Then entire Chaotix team wore matching purple trunks, obviously Vector's idea.

Cream surprised Sonic by bringing a basket full of food, including the famous chili dogs, with her. He was satisfied with sitting on the sand and eating.

Rouge dragged Knuckles with him into the water. He didn't protest much as for once he was happy to hang out with the bat. It may have to do with the point that she was wearing a purple bikini that seemed two sizes too small.

Amy, Cream, and Tails stayed in a more shallow end. They waded in the water that went up to their knees. Amy was the first one to start a splash war. She bent down and scooped up the fresh lake water. It flew through the air and landed right on Cream. The rabbit wasn't upset one bit and returned the gesture. Both girls laughed before grinning at Tails. The poor fox went wide eyed before gallons of water were tossed at him.

Team Chaotix remained on the land like Sonic, although the had different intentions. With three metal detectors they searched the beach. Charmy struggled with weighing three shovels along with his own equipment. "Why me?" he complained to himself.

There was only a short amount of time for Rouge to yell out a warning. "Amy watch out!" The pink hedgehog looked over in confusion. "What-" Amy was cut off before she could fully muster the question. A ball flew right into her stomach at full force, knocking her off her feet.

"Amy!" Cream cried. "Are you okay?" She girl squinted her green eyes in slight pain before nodding her head. She groaned while blindly tossing the ball ahead of her.

"Oh man! I'm really sorry!" Everyone turned their heads to see a tall and skinny lemur holding the ball. His nuzzle was a dark brown that contrasted to his white fur. His tail stretched out far behind him and was decorated in dark stripes. His golden eyes shone brightly compared the the black rim around them. He gave a sheepish smile. "My friends and I were just playing ultimate volleyball when Scooter kind of got out of hand. Again, sorry." The lemur jacked his thumb over his should, pointing to a group of five people in the distance.

"What's ultimate volleyball?" Amy questioned from her spot on the floor. "And who's Scooter?"

The golden eyed boy tucked the ball under one of his arms and reached out a hand to help Amy up. "It's basically intense volleyball," he responded with a shrug.

"I'll say," Rouge murmured under her breath as she looked over the distance the ball had flown. The volleyball player were standing near a net that seemed over two hundred yards away from their spot.

"I'm Enzo," the Lemur held out his hand to the pink hedgehog. "Amy," she responded happily. Everyone else in the water took their turns shaking hands with Enzo.

"Do you mind if I join your volleyball game?" Amy her head tilted to the side and looked directly at Enzo.

The boy scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, but like I said," raised the ball to his finger tips, "it's intense." A golden mist rose from his finger tips. It surrounded the ball and rose it into the air. Amy stood with her eyes wide. Enzo chuckled at her reaction. At an intense speed, the ball was suddenly launched behind him and to his group of friends. Amy giggled as she saw it hit some one in their chest and knock them back.

Knuckles, seeming less impressed, scoffed. "We can easily handle that!"

"Oh really?" Enzo folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, sensing a challenge. "Fine then. Instead of a three on three with my friends, you guys can join and we will have a six on six."

Cream stepped back. "I would rather just watch." She shyly looked up at the lemur who nodded his head.

"Okay, then we need two more people," Amy looked back on the beach. "Hey Sonic!" The blue hedgehog propped himself up onto his elbows. He pulled up his black sunglasses and looked at them. He looked over the stranger lemur for a moment before turning his gaze to Amy. "Wanna play volleyball?" she questioned from the water. Sonic laid back down, hoping that she would understand his answer. "You lazy bum!" she yelled before turning her attention to someone else.

"Chaotix!" Vector, Charmy, and Espio looked up from their metal devices.

"Volleyball?"

Espio and Charmy exchanged knowing glances between one another. Both quickly dumped off their junk and joined the others at the water. In disbelief, Vector stared at his two friends that walked with the other group. "Traitors!" he shook his fist in the air at them. A frown was on his face at he looked at all the equipment at his feet. He grumbled to himself as he proceeded to pick it up and roughly continue work on his own.

"Hey guys," Enzo called to his friends as they approached, "I picked up some new people to join us."

Four more boys and one girl looked at them.

One hedgehog, like Amy, approached them first. "My name is Ashton, people call me Ash." His quills were dark grey. They were thin compared to Sonic's and messily split at the ends, which Amy assumed was for style. His right eye was hauntingly black as the other appeared to be a natural blue. He wore navy blue board shorts.

The girl, who was the last hedgehog of the bunch, pushed Ashton aside. He glared at her for a moment but she ignored him. "My name is Persephone," she smiled proudly while holding her hand out. Tails shook it. He was startled by her firm grip and violent hand shake. Persephone giggle as she shook everyone else's hands. The girl's fur was the brightest white. Her long quills waved down her sides and covered up one fourth of her face. Her eyes were a light shaded purple. Amy wondered if the she was wearing contacts, having never seen naturally purple eyes. Like Rouge, she wore a purple bikini. Although her's was greatly less revealing. It had a bandeau top with a white flower over her left breast. Her bottom's didn't tie at the sides either.

"You just met my brother, Ash," she jerked her head to the pouting boy. "We have three other friends: Rico, Scooter, and Jackal."

Rico held up his right and stuck out his pinky and thumb, signaling "hang loose." He gave a grin which showed off his pearly white teeth. As a jaguar, he had a tan print all over him and a couple sharp teeth. His ears were small and round. He had on board shorts like Ashton. They were light blue with orange Hawaiian prints on them.

Scooter came close to Amy. "Sorry about hitting you with the ball." The orange degus held out his hand to Amy. The pink girl shook it while she looked over him. He had a thin ponytail at the back of his head that streamed down to his mid-back. His eyes were large and round. They reflected the sunlight in their dark pupils. His red shorts hung low at the waistband.

A black Panther rounded the corner and grinned at the new 6, disincluding Cream. Jackal wore a blue rash shirt with matching swim trunks. He folded his arms over his chest and tilted his chin up. "So," he flashed his sharp teeth, "you guys think you can beat us at volleyball?"

"I still don't get what makes it ultimate," Charmy, seeming to be the only one left out, blurted. Everyone else groaned as Rouge facepalmed.

Jackal spun the ball on his index finger. He walked ahead, letting it roll over his arms and past his shoulders. He caught it with his other hand and proceeded to spin it on his finger. "It's simple young bee," his playful voice lectured, "we all have our own abilities, _powers _if you must. We use them to our advantage. I'm sure you have something you can do. You," he pointed his free index finger into Charmy's chest., "use your skills to beat me. Capisce?"

Charmy nodded, feeling eager and a little scared at the same time. Ashton chuckled at the young bee's distress.

Enzo stood in front of everyone else. "Okay guys," he cleared his throat, "just so we can make this more fair: we will have two captains. I will be one captain, one of you guys can be the other."

Almost instantly Knuckles raised his hand. "I call dibs," he jumped up. Everyone settled their gazes on the red enchidna. Knuckles lowered his hand and observed the raised eyebrows casted towards him. "What?" No one answered.

"Okay," Enzo carried on, "Jackal, my team." The panther nodded and jogged over to Enzo's side. The teens bumped fists with grins before turning to Knuckles. "Your turn."

"Rouge." The bat rolled her eyes. She didn't have to move since she was already next to the boy. No one was surprised that she was his first choice.

"Amy." Enzo grinned as the girl quirked an eyebrow. "Just thought I owe it to you to put you on the winning team." The girl giggled, "That is quite an ego you have there."

"Scooter," Knuckles bobbed his head at the degus, who returned the gesture.

Both continued to pick out the teams. It ended with Knuckles having five other teammates: Rouge, Scooter, Charmy, Persephone, and Ashton. Enzo had his own team: Jackal, Amy, Espio, Tails, and Rico. Cream stood at the side and was deemed referee.

"The first team to reach 15 points wins the round. First team to get 2 out of 3 wins the game. A coin will be flipped to determine who serves first," Cream called from the sidelines.

"You can choose first," Enzo called over the net. Knuckles nodded, "Heads."

"Then I get Tails."

Cream tossed her quarter in the air. It spun multiple times before landing in the sand. She squinted at it on the ground before calling out, "Heads!"

Knuckles quickly caught the ball. "Over or underhand?" Everyone turned to Cream. The young girl wasn't sure of what the correct answer would be. "Either," it sounded more unsure and as a question. The red enchinda nodded.

He threw the ball high above his head. He jumped in the air and _punched_ the ball forward. It soared more than high above the net. Rico, being in middle back, sprinted back after the ball. No one called it out, although in a normal game it would have been. He dove after the ball. After realizing he wouldn't be able to reach it, the jaguar threw his hand up. In sync with it, water sprouted up from underneath the ground. Instead, a sprout of water hit the ball, sending it back towards the net.

Amy gasped when she looked at it. "How did he do that?"

"Rico can manipulate water," Enzo answered as he watched the ball come back. Seeing that it wouldn't make it, he jumped forward and gave the ball another bump, allowing it to make it over the net. Charmy flew up and spiked it. No one knew that the small bee had so much force in him.

Cream held up a white board and showed a score. "First point goes to Team Knuckles."

Knuckles grinned over to Rouge, "I knew you would just _love_ being on my team." The white bat scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Just serve the ball," she commanded.

Knuckles gave off the same power-packed serve. This time Tails was able to bump it back. Scooter hit it easily back. Amy's mind swarmed as she observed the ball continuously go front and back. Eventually it landed once again on her side, giving the point to Team Knuckles again.

She grinned as she saw Knuckles prepared to serve the ball once more. Amy held her right hand out at her lower side. The ball came back once more. With the flick of her wrist, her hammer appeared through thin air. Even her team members appeared surprised with the sudden object.

She hit the volleyball head on and got it far over the net. No one on the other team rebounded it. Amy felt pride as she scored the first point for her team.

Everyone on her team rotated their positions. Amy was up to serve.

Like Knuckles, she went with an overhand. She threw the ball straight into the air and hit it with her hammer. It soared over the net with no hit. It was five points later until someone finally got Team Enzo to miss with Amy as their server.

The scores continue to slowly climb up. Team Enzo won the first round by one point after Knuckles slipped up from getting distracted by Rouge jumping. She called him a pervert and slapped him for two reasons: being a creep and making them lose.

If Team Enzo won another round, they would also win the game.

Charmy bumped the ball. Jackal, standing at the back, opened up a dark hole. The volley ball soared through it. Enzo grinned. Amy just gave him a confused stare, hoping for an explanation.

"Jackal can create portals through space," he gestured to the current hole, "another hole will appear when and where he wants it to. When it comes, the ball will come through it." The pink hedgehog nodded her head, finally understand.

The other team looked around confused, waiting for it to come back. "What-" Persephone looked around in, not wanting to miss it.

Amy saw the shadow hole appear above Team Knuckles' heads. The volley ball came falling down. Amy grinned. She liked how her new friends played. She could never think of a more enjoyable game of volley ball.

That point went to Team Enzo.

Tails served the ball. It was a normal serve. Static electricity burst from the palms of Persephone's hands. Sparks zapped the ball in the other direction. A burnt mark was left in the side as smoke came from it. Everyone was too scared to try to touch the burning object.

Ash took his turn to serve. He gave a fast over hand.

Espio released a grappling hook in the direction of the soaring object. It hooked onto the ball. As if he was casting a fishing line, the purple chameleon threw the line over his head. In the process, the hook released the ball.

Not being able to keep up, Charmy could only blink before he was hit in the middle of his face by the object. The bee tumbled back, landing in the sand. Everyone crowded around the down player.

"Can he still play?" Rico asked, wincing at the swollen bump on his face.

Scooter tsked at the almost black eye, "I don't think so."

"Way to go Espio," Knuckles sarcastically commented.

Rouge punched his shoulder. "Quiet you! This was an accident!" Knuckled glared up at the girl. She just turned away, not wanting to bother with him anymore.

Cream hoisted the bee up. Charmy's weight was fully supported by Cream. "I have some bandages back at my basket," the rabbit offered as she walked him away from the volley ball set.

"Now we are down one player," Ashton commented as he watched the two retreat.

"I can get someone else to play," Amy began following Cream, "Just give me a minute."

Everyone watched the pink hedgehog bob away.

"So," Knuckles said over the awkward silence, "how about that airplane food?" Everyone groaned.

* * *

><p>Sonic squinted open his eyes once he noticed something was blocking the sun. Amy towered over him with her hands on her hips. This was one of the few times that she could actually look down at him.<p>

"What is it?" Sonic asked, not getting why she was giving him a stern look.

"We are down one player," She pointed behind her at the group of people swarming a volleyball net.

"So?" Sonic shrugged, pretending not to understand what she wanted from him.

"Can you please come play?"

Sonic rolled on to his side so he wouldn't face her. "I said no earlier, my answer is still no."

"Technically you didn't say no. You just ignored me," Amy retorted.

Sonic didn't respond. He closed his eyes and pretended to block the girl off from his mind.

Amy got on her knees and began to shake his shoulder. "Please! Please! Please!" Each plead became longer and led to more violent shoulder shaking. Amy leaned over Sonic's side so he would be forced to face her. "Please?" She puckered out her lower lip and furrowed her eyebrows.

Sonic, surprised by the contact, opened his eyes. He almost jumped at the puppy dog look she gave him. "That wont work," he muttered. Although, truthfully, it was taking all of his strength not to give in.

There was a pause before she begged one more times, "Pretty please with a chili dog on top?"

"Fine," Sonic breather in exaggeration. Amy giggled and sat back up. A rush of air over came Sonic where she had touched his shoulder. "Come on!" the girl called before running ahead. Even with a head start, Sonic got to the group of friends before Amy did.

* * *

><p>After a quick greet, the game was back in motion. With the absence of their referee, Vector volunteered to step in. He was more than tired of pointlessly searching for any riches.<p>

Persephone smirked at Amy as their eyes met through the net. The pink hedgehog felt uneasy at the look.

Tails once more served the ball. Amy jumped and piked it with her hammer. With another zap, Persephone sent the ball back towards Amy. The girl gasped and ducked out of the way, not wanting to face any injury. She glared as she watched Sonic high five Persephone. Enzo held out a hand and helped Amy back up. "Sorry about that," he murmured. He gave a look of disappointment at the other cheering team. "Persephone gets a little overly competitive when she feels the need to impress someone."

"Who would she want to impress?" Amy asked. She only got a sly grin from Enzo as he glanced once more at Persephone. Amy looked back and forth in between the white and blue hedgehogs. "_Great_," she thought to herself.

The second round eventually went to Team Knuckles. It was probably beneficial to have Sonic spin dash into half of the serves given to him. Not to mention that Ash also slowed down time to get an easier hit at the ball.

Enzo once again had the ball. His team was one point behind so he really wanted to boost them forward. For the serve, he had his golden mist raise the ball and launch it forward. He was caught off guard when Scooter raised swirl of gold from his own fingers and sent an equally powerful attack back. Amy raised her hammer and hit the ball back, earning her team another point.

Sonic looked at Scooter with an impressed expression. "You can do that thing you just did as well?"

The degus scratched the back of his head. "Well, sort of. The power of light is Enzo's thing. I just have the ability to mimic others for a short amount of time." Sonic grinned. "Awesome!" he expressed before fist bumping Scooter.

Enzo raised the ball before slapping it ahead. Sonic was quick and hit the serve. Tails, in the normal hand position, flew up a bumped the ball back. Both Rouge and Knuckles dived for the volley. Everyone winced at the smashing sound of their skulls colliding with one another.

"Watch where you're going!" Rouge rubbed her forehead while groaning.

Knuckles looked offended from the floor. "That was not my fault! I was actually going to hit the ball, unlike someone..."

Rouge raised her fist and punched Knuckles on his already injured forehead. He yelled "ow!" once again before continuing to glare at her.

"Can we go one day without you two killing each other?" Sonic questioned while shaking his head in disappointment.

"They were killing each other?" Amy pretended to be oblivious. She gave a knowing smirk to the two that looked up at her. "I thought that the were just flirting again."

Sonic chuckled at the horrified look Knuckles and Rouge gave. Both of their eyes were wide with their mouths left hung open. They scurried away from one another and back into their positions. Before Rouge could yell at Amy, the next serve was given.

Persephone jumped the give it one more spark. The ball zapped over the net at its frightening speed. Everyone on Team Enzo ducked out of the way; all besides Amy. The girl spun and hit the ball with the force she had. Amy's arms shook as her hammer ricocheted. Everyone winced at the sound of a pop. In the sand laid the airless volleyball.

"Whoops..." Amy nervously laughed at it.

"Well looks like the game is over," Jackal bluntly stated. "Who won?"

Everyone looked over to Vector, the score keeper. "Team Knuckles has one round and 8 points: Team Enzo has one round and 9 points!"

Enzo's side cheered they all exchanged high-fives with one another.

"Good game," Persephone held her hand out for Knuckles to shake. He noticed that a small slip of paper was slid into his hand at the same time. "And if you ever want to hang," Persephone winked at him, "call me."

Amy and Enzo exchanged glances with one another before laughing. And to think, Amy had thought the girl liked Sonic. The pink hedgehog and lemur continued to laugh at Knuckles astonished reaction.

Amy promptly stopped upon looking at the white hedgehog hand it out to Sonic as well. "_Maybe I spoke too soon_," she thought grudgingly.

Enzo caught onto her sudden mood change. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry about it," he reassured her," Persephone just likes to flirt a lot. She wont steal your boyfriend."

Amy gave a confused look at him. "I don't have a boyfriend though...?"

Enzo shrugged his shoulders, "I just assumed that it was Sonic. You've been keeping an eye on him."

Amy blushed at the thought of it. "Him?" she pointed at the blue hedgehog. "That Sonic? Ha! No." She shook her head. "You probably don't know him, I'm new here and all and I already know that he has a big ego. I'm pretty sure he would date himself before getting an actual girlfriend."

Enzo laughed at the playful insult. "Actually, he's quite famous for being a hero. People close by know him for stopping Eggman and saving citizens."

Amy almost forgot about that. It had slipped her mind that in the small populated area, Sonic was famous. She wasn't sure how far his fame had stretched, but people knew him. He was a hero that protects people from any dangers.

Amy wondered why lately things have quieted greatly from her first couple weeks here. "_Bad guys don't take summer vacations..._"

"Well," Enzo snapped the girl out of her thoughts, "we should really go." He looked over his own group of friends. "Come on guys!"

The lemur gave one last smile at Amy. She smiled up at him. He was really tall compared to her. Almost everyone was taller than Amy. Even Cream was almost as tall as the pink hedgehog.

"Bye," Amy said sweetly.

Enzo gave the girl a half hug. He innocently placed his lips to her forehead. "Bye, Amy."

The girl blushed furiously as she watched him pull away and catch up to his already retreating friends. Amy turned her head towards Sonic, who had his back faced towards her. She then saw Rouge fold her arms and smirk at Amy.

"Now isn't that just cute?" Rouge tilted her head to the side.

Amy narrowed her eyes at the bat before rolling them, "Shut up."

* * *

><p><strong>This took longer than expected to write. So now we can watch more relationships and friendship develop in the next few chapters! I'm so excited! BRING ON THE SUMMER WRITING!<strong>

**I have a feeling that this wont be the last time we see Enzo and his gang.**

**Don't worry guys, it was just a simple kiss goodbye, right?**

**And what's up with Cryssi? There MUST be something...**


	12. Sparks Fly

**Just one more chapter leading up to more serious buisness!**

**Also I changed my name from CaTaLiDe to PhsychicPunch, just so we don't have confusion.**

**Chapter: Sparks Fly**

* * *

><p>"I've never actually seen fireworks before." Amy carried a plate of diced fruit over to the picnic table. The sun was beginning to set and dinner was yet to be served. The smell of burgers being flipped onto fresh bread stained the air at the top of the hill. The small chimes of ice floating on top of fruit punch filled in with the background noise of a friendly gathering.<p>

"You've got to be kidding me," Sonic said, in disbelief. The cocky hedgehog sat on a chair, not bothering to move with the help of setting up. Being granted the amazing speed to run still left him often too lazy. "How can you not witness fireworks. They're, like, at every single event."

Amy quirked an eyebrow at him. She found that hard to believe. "Name five times," she challenged.

"Easy," Sonic smirked, "Fourth of July, baseball games, Olympics, weddings aaaand," Sonic tapped his chin with his index finger as he wondered thoughtfully, "my birthday."

Amy rolled her eyes. She tried hard, and managed to fail, to prevent the corners of her mouth to turn upwards. "You think too highly of yourself." Amy turned around and sang out, "Don't fall too hard in love with your reflection." She thought over his answer for a moment before another thought occurred to her. "Also, we don't celebrate the Fourth of July."

Sonic stared at her back as she strolled up to Cream and Espio. He smiled. It was no devious smirk or self loathing grin. Just a simple, happy smile. Him and Amy Rose had grown to become acquainted with one another. Of course he still hadn't known too much about her, and neither did she know about him, but it was good to have a decent female friend.

"What's gotten you so excited?" Tails gave a worried look at his friend across the table. Sonic hadn't even noticed that the fox settled in front of him.

Sonic was startled out of his own mind. He coughed and returned to a more laid back look. "Nothing, I just really want food." Yes, the sound of food sounding good to Sonic. He could eat more than enough easily. His mouth watered at just the mere thought of a warm burger with pasta salad on the side. The sound of his stomach whining made him realize that he was very much starving. Suddenly panicked, Sonic bursted over the table and grabbed his friend by the shoulders, "Please tell me the food is ready!"

Tails was wide eyed and stuttered as Sonic shook him. "O-okay! Jeez! It's ready!"

Sonic jumped to grab a plate for a meal. He could remember hearing a mutter including the words "corpulent", "whack", and "hammer." Sonic was glad he didn't want to stick around and find out what Tails actually said.

"So what exactly is Garden's Apparition?" Amy asked to her group of friends around the table.

"It's a holiday to Emerald Town. Riley is a guy who had saved us over 90 years ago," Tails quipped with a spoon full of pasta in his mouth. Amy tilted her head at the mention of his name. She had never heard of this "Riley" guy.

Knowing her confusion, Tails launched into a story. "It was 99 years ago to this very day..."

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><p><em>A young man, human, ran down a dirt road. His boots were stained with wet mud from the rain. It was pouring on the dark evening. It would have been a normal Thursday if not for the crisis.<em>

_A newer farm stood lonely in the field. It's freshly painted red contrasted against the dying grass and dull ground. Around sat harvested carrots. Every stick of orange was withered and dry, unhealthy to eat._

_The boy stepped into the small room. The large doors creaked as they slid, alerting those who remained inside. _

_A young girl, the face of a dog, stood up first. She had a short, black nose. Her ears stood at a point on the top of her hair. She almost white fur seemed to glow in the dark. _

_"Riley," she breathed in relief. Her brown eyes softened from worry at his form._

_Riley was panting as he leaned against the door. His cheeks were flushed with red on his pale face. His brown hair was drenched in rain water. His blue eyes were covered in the strands, no one could see his panicked expression yet._

_"Sophia," he coughed back with a nod of his head._

_"Jeez, Riley," another young girl, human too, laughed as she looked upon him, "You look like you ran a mile."_

_"I ran five," he snapped back. _

_The girl had hair similar to him. Both shared the same features: high cheek bones and round, blue eyes. She was about one full inch shorter than him._

_"Just trying to lighten up the mood," she defended herself. Her smirk vanished from her face as she looked upon her older brother. He was short to be 17 years old, only standing at 5'6". It was strange for her to seem him as something more than just a klutzy and quirky sibling. _

_"Rachelle, now is not the time," Riley's voice was weak as he bent over, resting his hands on his knees._

_Rachelle remained silent._

_The last member of the group stepped forward. One last boy. Even though he was only 12, he was almost a centimeter taller than Riley. The red fox frowned as he looked around at the group. _

_"What do we do now?" Simon questioned. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down at Riley who had collapse with his arms and legs spread out. His chest rose and fell at alarming rates._

_Riley cleared his throat as he took out a small, stone figurine. It had a small body and a large head. The eyes were hollow and larger on the face. No mouth was present underneath the small pointed nose. On the back of the body stretched out long, birdlike wings. The left wing was raised up high as the other was lowered with a crack in the middle._

_"We need to bring this to the master Emerald. The clan isn't guarding it for the moment as they too are at the town meeting. We will have a short time in doing this."_

_Everyone nodded as Rachelle helped her brother up to his feet. He kept the small angel statue close to him. Riley would never admit this, but he didn't trust anyone else with the small statue. Maybe if worse came to worse, he would hand it off to his younger sister. Other than that, no one else would grasp the stone in their hands. _

_The doors to the barn slid opened once more. First came out the boy with the angel. His other hand held on tightly to his sister's to allow her to keep up with his pace. Simon the fox ran behind the siblings. Sophia was the last one out of the barn. She closed the door behind her._

_The rain pattered heavier as time carried on. The four ran faster as they could feel themselves becoming more and more drenched by the second. It didn't matter anyways. One way or another they were going to be soaked by the water. Being wet was the least of their worries._

_Riley let go of his sister's hand as he ran up stone steps. He skipped them by going two at a time. No matter how fast he seemed to go he wasn't getting to his destination in the time he wanted._

_The master Emerald sat at the top. It seemed lifeless as it sat alone. The green was lonely and dull. It blended into the night, not showing any significance. The appearance was very misguiding to the eye. This emerald was the key source for them._

_As soon as Riley made it to the top of the staircase he stopped and stared at the jewel for a second. The three following came to a halt behind him. None of them wanted to interrupt the process._

_Riley slowly went to the side of the Master Emerald. He extended his hand as far as he could towards the center of the top and set down the angel statue. As soon as it touched the green surface, the figure jumped out of his hand. On its own, the object slid to the exact center of the emerald, showing that Riley was way off in were he was supposed to put it._

_He and everyone else gasped as the object came to life. Riley slowly backed towards the edge of the landing. __A light began to glow from the core of the emerald. It shone bright in the darkness. _

_Riley's breath hitched as his eyes widened. The light shined brighter as someone rose above the small statue. A woman, he assumed, floated in the air. Her skin was pale like the fresh snow of December as her hair was a crystal white. Her thin face was angled down towards the four teens. From her neck, down to her finger tips, and past her feet was a long dress. I was as white as her burning hair. The woman was the source of the blinding light. _

_Her eye lids opened to reveled her eyes were hollow and dark. It sent chills up and down the arms of Rachelle. Sophia uncomfortably shuffled back and behind Simon, who wasn't approving of becoming a shield for her._

_Riley noted in their silence that the rain didn't have an affect on the bright being. Her dress continue to smoothly twirl around her as he hair flew behind her shoulders._

_"She wont talk," Sophia observed aloud. She tilted her head at Riley, wondering if his plan is going to actually work._

_"Obviously she wont," Simon scoffed as he shook his head in what appeared as disappointment. "Anyone else notice that she doesn't have a mouth?"_

_Everyone returned their gazes back to the woman. Simon was right. No lips were plump on her face. Only smooth skin without a single mark laid on her lower face. _

_"It's the angel," Riley stated as he began to compare the women, who held a curious gaze, to the figurine. He pointed at the small object that had not moved from its position before aiming his hand upwards at the floating being above it._

_"But she doesn't have wings," Sophia noted as she examine the lady._

_"Not all angels have wings."_

_Everyone jumped at the voice. Rachelle gave a quick squeal in surprise. "Anyone else hear that?" the human girl said in a panicked voice._

_"It sounded as if it just came from my head," Simon thoughtfully said. _

_Everyone exchanged glances. Riley didn't participate as he continued to stare straight ahead. His eyes were locked on the woman. She stared intently down at him, not letting her gaze drift over someone else._

_"He gets it."_

_The three jumped again at the voice in their heads. It was light with no trace of mocking. It was the most pure sound that either have ever heard._

_"Don't you guys get it?" Riley looked over his shoulder for a brief moment. "It's her. She's the angel. Her voice is in our heads."_

_"Yes, you are correct. Why has such young children summoned me from my realm?" She tilted her head down at them. Everyone nudged Riley. He gulped nervously before looking at the angel that towered over him. The boy resisted the urge to block the light from his eyes. Her glow was sure to attract all the adults in the meeting. He had to hurry._

_Riley cleared his throat. "We need your help. Everyth-"_

_"Obviously, or else you would have not called for me."_

_"Right. Well everything is dying. Around us, no matter how much it rains or how much we fertilize, the plants will not grow. We are desperate to not see dead trees around us with no leaves. The forest is becoming pointless at this. The new farm is no help to the people's hunger."_

_"And what do you expect me to do?"_

_Riley stuttered at the question. He had though he made himself clear to her. "Uh, w-well I thought you could fix it."_

_The angel tilted her head to the side. She hummed as it came out clearly in their heads. Even though it was quiet, it overcame the sound of the pattering rain. "What would I get from this?"_

_"Anything you want."_

_"No. You humans are simply incapable of doing something impossible in this realm. It's too complicated for you to do anything that I please."_

_Riley was at a lose. He wasn't sure of what would please her. What do angels like anyways? There was no way of telling. He didn't know much of the immortal creatures. He hadn't even believed in the angels until a little while ago._

_"We can give you half of what my family harvests," Sophia suggested from the back._

_Everyone, including the angel turned their focus on her. "No," the angel smoothly declined. "That is useless to me. I do not need nutrients to survive unlike you mundanes."_

_"We could build a statue in your honor," Simon took his turn to suggest._

_Once again, the angel declined. "I already have a statue. It is small and dull, but it is all I need. I am not impressed by physical objects."_

_Everyone looked at Rachelle. The girl became wide eyed as they were expecting for her to come up with something. "Uhhh," she was fazed by the opportunity, "eternal appreciation?" __Her brother face palmed as the other two outwardly groaned. _

_The angel raised her hand to silence the others. "How would you show this dedication?"_

_The girl scratched the back of her head. "If you end this plague on the plants, you can have your own holiday. Once a year we will dedicated the whole day from the moment we wake up until we fall asleep all to you. We will join together with our family and friends. We will talk about your story on how you helped us. And the day we die will not be the end of this celebration. We will have our children continue to praise you. This holiday will go on and on. And on the day we stop, you can take this all away. On that day, you can abandon us and take back all that you have given."_

_Rachelle was breathing heavily at the end her speech. Her friends were left speechless at the amount of words she spoke. "Wow..." was all that Riley could manage._

_It felt like forever as the sound of the rain filled the background. Everyone was silent as they looked up at the angel. She never replied._

_Riley's eyes widened as he realized what was happened. The angel was going away. He dark eyes closed and her light dimmed into the night. She faded away until no one could see her anymore._

_Riley reached to her. He couldn't make it as he was too short and she seemed to not listen to his plea for her. He was left stunned as he stared at the now dark Master Emerald. _

_"I can't believe she just left. Now what?"_

_Everyone lowered their heads in shame._

_"Do not fret, children." Riley gasped at the voice of the angel. He couldn't see her, but they all felt her presence in the voice. "You have not failed your mission. I have gotten the souls of the dead to sacrifice themselves. Each one will carry out to a plant as you sleep. Even though their bodies are dead, they are very much alive. Their lives will strengthen your plants. When you awake, you will find your town full of life once more. I have filled my end of the bargain, I hope you do yours._

_They were surrounded by shocked silence._

* * *

><p>"So they woke up the next day to find that what the angel had said was true. The proof they had of it being Riley who had saved the others, even though he was along with the others, was the angel statue that Knuckle's ancestors found on the Master Emerald. Our thanks is aimed towards the angel."<p>

Everyone finished their food by now. Some people, like Cream, had gotten up the play around before it got too dark. Amy remained seated as she stared intently as Tails. "So angels are real?"

Tails shrugged. "I don't really know about the afterlife, but I would like to hope that they are real. I have been celebrating Garden's Apparition day for a long time now. What do you think, Amy?" The girls ears perked on the top of her head. "Do you believe the story?"

Amy wasn't sure. Logic wasn't something that really applied to this world. Anything could be real or fake. "I think so. I mean, would people really lie about something like this?"

"Well, people do shift stories over time, right?"

Amy had no reply to that. She was greatly confused. Was it true? Or no?

"What happened to the angel statue? Who has it now?"

Tails became quiet at the question. It was Espio, who was the only other person at the table, that spoke up. "It was recently stolen. About two years ago I believe." His voice was quiet at the subject. "But before then, people of Knuckle's family had it."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at Espio. "Maybe Eggman took it. I'm not really aware of anyone else who would do it."

Espio leaned back and crossed his arms. It would be very reasonable for Eggman to be the one to steal it. He is a thief and criminal. He is also the only bad guy who lives in the area and knows of the historical story. "But there is one flaw in that reason," Espio recognized it clearly. "Eggman, even as crazy as he is, is also technically a genius. He has and IQ of 300 and the title 'Doctor' in his name, although we don't really recognize that. With that, he prefers science over religion. And I'm certain that if he had a religion and believed in gods, angels, and demons of the sorts, he would not be a villain in the knowledge that he would possibly end up in Hell. So a small statue with the claim to summon an angel from a dimension of the dead has no use to him."

Amy hummed in response as she thought over his comment. Her and Espio didn't spend any alone time with one another as she did with Cream, Tails, Sonic, and Rouge. She still highly enjoyed the remarks from him. Espio was often quiet; it took Amy a long time to realize that he was quite intelligent.

Before Amy could comment back, Cream came skipping up towards her. "Oh Amy! Would you like to participate in using the sparklers?"

The pink hedgehog giggled at her enthusiasm. She enjoyed being around such hyperactive people like the small rabbit. "I would love to, Cream." Both girls stood up and bounded from the tables to the rest of their friends who took their time in handing out the sticks for sparklers. Their was enough for everyone to hold one in each of their hands.

Cream gasped as her suddenly sparked from the tips. The bunny ran with her arms spread out at her sides. In the process she handed one off to Tails, who sat off to the side, and politely forced him into acting as airplanes with her.

Rouge and Knuckles stood off to the sides and began to throw them at one another. Vanilla scolded them about how dangerous it was. Knuckles agreed with the older lady and emphasized on how _Rouge_ was acting inappropriately. This earned him a shock on his face with a burnt mark on his face, courtesy of Rouge.

Amy simply laughed at the immature pair. She found their love-hate relationship the most interesting. It was amusing to look upon them. Amy herself wasn't a professional with what kind of feelings they were showing. She could only assume they had special feelings for one another and yet they continued to act harsh and tease often.

She could think back to her own past relations. The girl had dated a total of three times in her public high school. After observing the bond between the other two, her past boyfriends had nothing special with her. Everything was simple. A guy would ask her out. Whether or not if her feelings for him were great crushes; she would say yes. None of them were lasting friendships leading up to an infinity of love. Being young, she had yet to experience this. A small part of her wondered what it was like to be in Rouge or Knuckles' shoes. A position where she could experience a relationship last longer than 6 months. Something that didn't involve awkward kisses on her cheeks and hugs that were too long.

Amy was caught off guard when the sticks suddenly lite to life with sparks. She jumped at the sight as it pulled her out of her thought. Sonic snickered at her from the side. When she turned to glare at him he turned his head quickly to the side, pretending to be caught up in something else. Amy brushed it off before spreading out more so she could get to work.

The girl started off simple by drawing out a heart. The light left behind a quick flash, enough for Sonic to be able to see the shape. He scrunched his face at the very girly gesture. Amy chose to ignore it, she didn't care what he thought.

She then quickly traced out a large star. Amy loved stars. She was used to barely seeing them. Now living out from the bright lights of the city, she could see star clusters every night. Amy couldn't believe that no one else made a big deal about it. She smiled at thinking about how she used to always talk about them at night while everyone else just nodded it off. The only other one who was remotely interested was Tails, he went on and on about his knowledge of space. That was enough to shut Amy up of her star love.

Sonic also remembered her love of stars. It was all because of how "pretty" they were. He never paid much attention to the night sky before Amy brought it up. Afterwards he spent each night trying to figure out how many stars he could count. He would start over every time he realized that he accidentally counted a few stars twice. It was impossible and her gave credit to Tails for calling the night sky unlimited. Of course Amy didn't know much of the wonders of actually going into space; Sonic journeyed out of the atmosphere a few times.

Amy then stepped up her talent a bit more. She perfectly wrote out "Amy Rose" in cursive. Sonic had to admit it was impressive. She wrote the whole thing backwards to the people watching in front of her could easily read it clearly. Not only that but the flash of light and trail afterwards made the writing look really neat.

"Why don't you try?" Amy tilted her head towards Sonic.

He held only one sparkler as the other already became lifeless and quiet. Sonic glanced down at it. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what to write."

Amy tsked and shook her head as she spun in a circle. "How about a secret?"

"'A secret'?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. Its fun. It will be hard for other people to know what you wrote. A good way to get something off your chest, you know?"

Sonic wouldn't admit this, but the hedgehog actually liked the sound of that. "Okay," he nodded.

Amy stopped moving and watched the blue hedgehog. He could feel her intense and curious stare on him. Amy couldn't know what he was writing. To make things hard he wrote in cursive. Sonic had sloppy cursive and preferred not to use it, but this was a good time. He also didn't bother to try to write it all backwards because he knew he couldn't do that anyways and if he did, Amy would be able to read what he wrote correctly.

Sonic lifted the sparkler a wrote fast. Amy couldn't tell what he had wrote other than the word "I". Sonic smirked as she could only understand the first of the four words.

"Wait, what?" Amy tilted her head in confusion.

He ignored her question and quickly took notice that only one of her sparklers was still running. He quickly commanded for her to write out her own. Amy paused for a moment. Sonic almost feared that he wouldn't be able to read one if he didn't read her own secret. Although, that wouldn't be fair as he cheated her of knowing his.

Amy raised her sparkler and was more kind. She wrote out clearly as she did before. Sonic watched as she slowly curved a couple letters the suspense was killing him. Before Amy could write out her third letter, the sparkler did. There was silence between the two. Absence of the sizzling of the sparks made everything more intense. Sonic had only read, "I know-," before it was gone.

Amy just shrugged, pretending not to care. Even though she didn't get to know the secret of Sonic the Hedgehog, which will end up torturing her later, a small part of her wanted him to read her own.

"_Maybe it's best he didn't read it all._" Amy turned away and bit her lip. "_It must be a sign. It is not time to acknowledged it._"

The sun finally set, leaving them in darkness. Everyone began laying out for the show. Cream sat with her mother as Cheese was perched lazily on her head. Tails was welcomed by them as he sat on the other side of Cream. Amy was sure to note how their arms were touching and their pinkies overlapped.

Of course Team Chaotix had their own blanket. They sat furthest ahead. Amy giggled as she could hear them silently argue over who is taking over too much room. It was classic for the small group to often disagree with one another and blame each other. She remembered how Vector put all the pressure on Charmy for causing the sun to be too hot.

Strangely, Rouge and Knuckles were quiet, almost silent, as they laid with everyone else at the bottom of the hill. Amy raised a suspicious eyebrow.

After doing a head count, the girl knew someone was missing. While putting away the last plate she commented on it. "Sonic, do you happen to know where Cryssi is?"

This wasn't the first occurrence. Lately, Cryssi has been absent often. Amy found her so much more different than she had thought since the first day she met the dog.

Sonic was mute for a moment. She knew fully well that he was very aware of the way the girl was acting. Even to everyone else, the now moody girl wasn't normal. "She's probably just with her dad. I think this holiday is even more important to them."

"Really?" Amy curiously looked at him, who was making no effort in helping her finish cleaning up. Amy whipped her hands clean before placing her gloves back on. "Why would that be?"

"Well she is related to one of the people in the story. One of Riley's friends: Sophie or Sophia."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't remember the name of a member of your home's history." Sonic pretended to look hurt. Amy added as an afterthought, "It's 'Sophia' by the way."

Sonic fisted his hand and pulled it close to him. "Knew it!" Amy laughed before turning to go down the hill.

She gasped as she felt a grip around her elbow. Amy was lightly pulled back to the picnic table by Sonic. "Oh no you don't Miss I-Have-Never-Seen-Any-Fireworks-Before," Sonic playfully scolded as he sat on the table top. Amy didn't object as she sat next to him.

"That must be a crazy signature," she commented. The girl felt proud as Sonic lightly threw his head back and gave a short laugh.

"But you must see the show from the best view. And you're in luck because I know where the best view is, and it just so happens to be on this table top." Sonic gestured dramatically at the cleaned top. Amy gave an impressed look.

Silence dawned between the two as they waited for the show to begin. Both leaned back and rested their weight on their elbows. Amy felt goose bumps on her skin as the breeze brushed over her one side but ended where the heat of Sonic's skin radiated on her. She ignored the thoughts of reminding her how close the two were sitting.

"You know this isn't exactly my history," Sonic blurted out. The silence was boring him. He had resulted to talking in his head but never meant to actually speak.

Amy turned her gaze from the sky and locked her green eyes with Sonic. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Sonic sighed, "like you, I am not originally from this town. I haven't even been living here for half my life. But it does feel like I've been here since I was born. I often forget my old living style."

Amy's eyes widened when she a thought occurred to her. "_You are finally getting to know him. Take your chance._"

"Where do you come from then?"

Sonic shrugged. "Just some city. A completely normal city like any other." Amy didn't mention how his voice was slightly higher and he talked a little faster than usual.

"You're horrid at lying," she mumbled under her breath. It was completely true. Sonic was awful at lying. But he was grateful that she didn't press on further.

"_Later..._"

And then it all started. A missile sound made both jump and look forward. A white light shot to the top of the sky. Amy's eyes widened as it exploded the colors red. Not long after another one followed. It was yellow, not gold. More and more came. Some louder than others. She was amazed at the different sizes and shapes. Some screeched as others cracked.

Amy's favorite was the gold one. It was rare and only came a few times. A single light rose high before popping off into what looked liked a hundred smaller gold dots. The dots rained down slowly while leaving a trail behind them.

Some fireworks came slow as others were surprising in bundles of explosion. If she didn't know better, she would have thought space was bursting into pieces. During the finale she almost couldn't hear herself think over the noises.

She sighed during the show. An idea suddenly popped up in her head. One of the only times she could speak her secret. No one could hear her over the noise. She was sure Sonic, who was sitting right next to her, wouldn't hear her if she yelled it.

Amy turned her head to quickly check on him. His eyes were imprinted on the sky. She could see the show reflecting in his green orbs. Amy looked at his lips moving. He said a single phrase. Almost in fusion with the noise, his sentence ended as the fireworks did.

Amy quickly looked ahead before he could catch her looking. Not only that, but the girl was slightly bummed at missing her chance to say what she wanted. Could it be that Sonic had the same idea as her? What could he have said? Is it the same thing as before? Or different?

The pink hedgehog's thoughts quickly passed as she was hyper over the fact she saw her first fireworks. Amy clapped along with everyone else at the end.

She didn't see Sonic sigh in relief. She didn't hear him whisper his secret.

"_I am an ex-prince._"

* * *

><p><strong>More stuff is added, let's see how it will play out later on...<strong>


	13. Cream's Declaration

**So this chapter had turned out to be VERRRRY long. (+8,500 words!) So I found a break in it and am instead posting TWO 2 chapters in one night. Let me repeat TWO chapters. This is the first chapter of the two!**

**Chapter: Cream's Declaration **

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><p>Amy stared down at the table. This was all happening so fast. Her mind swirled as her vision became clouded. She couldn't believe it. Had she failed? No. She came here for a reason. That reason would be fulfilled one way or another.<p>

It was only a month or so ago since the time that everything was over heated and they took their adventures down to the beach. The intense volleyball game was the greatest moment of her life. She silently wished that she had gotten Enzo's number. Not for the reason Rouge thinks, to have forever lasting love with him.

She wants a friend. For the longest time she had _needed_ friends. But now it was want. A pure selfish desire of Amy's was to have another friend, not that she needed it. Now, everything has changed. But August was slowly dying and so was summer. She was going to lose it all.

And the first time she saw fireworks: that was amazing. The loud cracks were now soft whispers in her memory. The blasts of color slowly began to fade in her mind as time went on.

"I should have saw this coming," Amy spoke over the table to Cream and Vanilla. Both of them stared down at their folded hands, not bearing the empty look on Amy's face. "I needed this job, but of course I'm not officially a certified teacher. Vanilla, this is the right thing to do. Fall is coming and Cream is going to school."

"But Amy," Cream pleaded, "I can't live here without you."

"I'll visit, I promise you."

"Don't worry, Cream," Vanilla said with a small smile. "Amy, isn't leaving just yet. It wouldn't be right to kick her out of our house. Amy, you are a very welcomed friend. But you also need to buy your own house and get a paying job. It's apart of growing up."

Amy nodded silently. "I'll be moving back with my own family. I can't remember the last time I saw them."

Cream gave Amy a skeptical look. The small rabbit knew that she had a lack of family, the pink hedgehog had told her that herself. But instead of telling Vanilla about the living problems she was facing, he had just lied to her mother instead. Why would Amy Rose do that?

Cream kept silent. If Amy wanted to tell about her past then she would. But she didn't seem like one to keep secrets. She was always so welcoming and open to others. It didn't seem fitting for a small girl to be a decisive one.

The two younger girls shared a knowing glance. "Cream," Amy said in a monotone voice, "can I speak to you in the living room?"

The rabbit bowed her head and nodded. The two girls excused themselves and walked off to a more private area. Cream spoke up as soon as she knew they were out of her mother's earshot.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Cream was worried as she looked upon the girl. She didn't have to tilt her head back as far to come eye-to-eye with the pink hedgehog. Amy gave an exasperated sigh as she gazed at the orange rabbit.

"Cream- I'm sorry."

"You just lied to my mother." Cream held back any bitter tone she wanted to use. She was raised well mannered and to act like a polite young lady. She knew Amy wasn't the same as her. The pink hedgehog had to do everything on her own. This gave Amy an easy ability to lie. Cream did not appreciate the ability being used towards Vanilla.

"I said that I was sorry," Amy stopped from continuing to speak for a moment once she heard her own voice sound so defensive. She was more quiet with the young girl. Amy reached her arms out a wrapped them over Cream's shoulders. She rested her chin on the head of the bunny. Amy secretly noted how the little girl didn't hug back.

"I really am sorry. But I do not want your mother to worry about me." She let go of Cream and held her at an arms length. Both of Amy's hands rested on the thin shoulders of the child. "Vanilla is more of an employer to me than just a friend. It is her duty to set me straight and send me out when it is needed. She can't just have me stay freely. I will solve this. Somehow I will. I still have business to attend to here."

"Amy," Cream said in a worried voice. "What aren't you telling me? What business?"

Amy smiled at the girl. "A while ago I had ran into Shadow." Cream gasped softly at the mention of the black hedgehog. She knew that Shadow had some sort of work with Sonic but also knew that he is capable of crimes. Amy brushed off the young girl's reaction. "Any how I had made a deal with him."

Cream brought her hands over her chest. "A deal? What kind of deal?"

The pink hedgehog turned her head and looked distant. She clearly remembered the time that her friends had all stepped in a took her away from Eggman. It was surprising that she had ran into Shadow for a second time. She hadn't seen him since then. It was such a while ago. Amy hoped that the dark male hadn't forgotten their compromise.

"Well the deal was, if I could some how prove myself to him, he would tell me more about Sonic."

Cream looked sympathetic at Amy. "Why Sonic?" Cream narrowed her eyes at Amy. She had noticed that the two been hanging out with one another more and more lately.

Amy thought for a moment. "Well he's... interesting. Yes, that."

"And?"

"That's it," Amy was quick to defend. She took her hands off of Cream's shoulders and crossed them over her chest. She lightly tilted her chin up, ready to challenge the girl. "What are you trying to imply, Cream?"

"I don't mean to be rude, Amy," Cream took a step back. "I apologize for questioning you so, but do you really expect me to believe these excuses?" Cream shook her head to herself. More lies were coming from Amy. The rabbit could slowly feel her trust with the pink hedgehog slipping away. "You wouldn't make a bet with a stranger just because you were 'curious'."

Amy looked away. Cream was becoming very skeptical of her and she had every right to be. "_I am being very suspicious,_" Amy thought to herself. She wondered if it was best not to have said anything in the first place.

The girl needed to clear her mind. Everything that has been going on lately seemed rather confusing to herself. "I'm going on a walk." Amy quickly walked through the front door and down the path.

Cream remained in her house with a stunned expression on her face. She was not expecting Amy to suddenly abandon her like that. Her tutor never acted so protective of herself. "Have I crossed the line?" The rabbit sat in the living room with no answer.

A few hours later Cream found herself walking alone with Cheese into a very familiar diner. It felt lonely in the afternoon without Amy by her side. Vanilla had calmed down the young rabbit before, preventing her from searching for Amy. She had claimed that, though she is very small for her age, Amy is old enough to handle herself. This barely settled Cream's worries.

The rabbit took it upon herself to go to her close friends for help. She knew that Rouge, Team Chaotix, and Knuckles were busy during the day. Tails often ran errands throughout the day. They were short and quick, giving him still a great amount of free time.

Cream thought if Cryssi would be busy but she already knew the answer anyways. It had come to her attention that didn't go unnoticed by anyone else how the dog has been lacking in hanging out with their group. They used to be great friends. Cryssi would come by her house often and help with preparing dinner. Now all she ever does is work on her farm. Cream was slowly coming to believe that she was doing something else. Cryssi's father never needed this much help before. During harvest season, cousins of theirs would ride in to town for the week to help out. Even during the busy hours Cryssi would laugh with her friends at a table with milkshakes.

Cream shook off the thoughts. It was not her business to judge such situations quickly. Cryssi would have her own good reason for what ever it is she does. The orange rabbit focused her mind back on Amy. "No," Cream whispered to herself. "Amy will not leave."

Her and Cheese both exchanged glances from one another. The rabbit nodded her head before picking up her began to flap her ears up and down to take flight. Her feet brush above the ground as she was lifted up into the air. The blue Chao fluttered next her side. Both moved as fast as they could, although they never achieved anywhere near Sonic's speed.

Cream could clearly see through the window and into the diner. Sonic sat at a booth with Tails facing him. Both appeared to be in a deep conversation. Sonic had a more laid back smile as his hands were folded behind his head. He leaned further into his chair with his head tilted slightly upward. Tails had an amazed smile on his face. He motioned his hands as if he was holding an invisible object. Tails eyes were lite up bright as his lips moved quickly.

Cream knew the look on his face. He always held a hint of fascination when he talked about mechanics. He could go on and on for hours about tools and inventions of his own. Need a car? Tails could surely fix you up a reliable one with just spare parts found in his garage.

Cream sighed to herself as she landed in front of the glass door. She pulled it opened and stepped inside. Both Tails and Sonic turned their heads at the sound of the bell. They instantly recognized Cream through the door. The rabbit ran over to the two. Tails glanced at Sonic. He had a confused expression on his face. It was noticeable to the both that something was bothering the young girl.

"Hi, Cream," Sonic said slowly as he raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"It's Amy," she breathed. Cream didn't bother to say her own greetings. She needed their help right away.

Sonic's eyes shot a little more opened. He straightened up in his cushioned seat. Tails scooted closer to the wall to give Cream room to sit next to him. She quickly obliged with a muttered, "Thank you."

"Amy?" Sonic tilted his head forward. "What happened to Amy? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Cream reassured him with a small waved of her hand. "But we have a problem. Amy may have to move away."

"Move away?!" Tails exclaimed loudly. He caught the attention of a few diners around them. The fox blushed a little in embarrassment but was glad that it was mostly an empty day.

"Why would she have to move away?" Sonic asked. He looked truly concerned for the pink hedgehog.

"Mother no longer needs her services since I will be starting school by the end of the month. She also can't afford to support Amy to stay at our home with no pay. Mother has been having her own work slow lately so her and I are just getting by. Amy insisted on not being a bother and agreed with moving out. But everything with her was so strange. She said that she would need to go back into the city for her own work and to get a job but then talked about how she had some important business to finish here. I don't know what's going on with her but she may or may not leave for good if we don't do something soon."

By the end of Cream's speech, she was panting quickly. The rabbit didn't take a single breath since starting her explanation. She found herself talking faster and faster. Cream sincerely hoped that they understood all that she was saying. It was then that another piece of information came to mind.

"Oh, and she is apparently associated with Shadow. Which I hadn't really been too aware of until today."

Sonic's ears perked at the last statement. "_Shadow? What is he doing with her?_" Sonic narrowed his eyes at the idea of Shadow and Amy hanging out alone. It didn't seem fitting. Shadow was such a loner. Sonic always thought of himself as Shadow's closest "friend" other than Rouge. Even then Shadow hardly could stand the company of Sonic himself. He couldn't believe that Shadow would prefer to be with someone as perky as Amy. It went against the dark hedgehog's preferences.

"I'm confused," Sonic shook his head, "what does Shadow have to do with this?"

"I think what Cream is trying to say," Tails pondered aloud, "is that Amy is moving away, but something about Shadow is making her stay?"

Cream eagerly nodded her head yes. She wasn't willing to come out with the details of the deal Amy had made yet. Amy wasn't specific of her reasoning of why she would want so badly to learn more about Sonic, but Cream was aware that it was not her situation to tell.

"I may be wrong," Cream inputted. "But we need to get Amy to stay anyways. Don't you see how much she is completing all of us? We can't go on without her. Rouge and Knuckles will probably even stop fighting from being so sad! No one else will go along with all of Team Chaotix's quirky antics. And Sonic," Cream looked him directly in his eyes, "you haven't bonded with anyone this much so quickly. You and I both know that you would be sad if Amy was gone."

Silence fell over the group. Thinking over it, Cream was very right. He was becoming close friends with Amy. It seemed like it was only yesterday since he met Amy. He had acted arrogant, even though he still does, towards her. That had set Amy off to dislike him from the start. But only a short time later the two hung out with one another and found that they got along well. Sonic always made the egotistical comments, and he would not deny any of them as he believed all were completely true, as Amy would roll her eyes and laugh at him. She would manage to surprise him by acting over excitedly to simple things such as witnessing him run at amazing speeds or seeing what Tails could create in a mere evening. Along with that Amy had her feisty side. When provoked the girl could seem to be a little threatening that could scare him. So yes, Sonic enjoyed the company of the over dramatic and emotional Amy Rose.

"Do you have any kind of plan?" Sonic's voice sounded hopeful with the tiniest hint of desperation.

Cream slowly shook her head. "I can't do anything. I'm just a little girl."

Tails shook his head quickly. "Don't think like that, Cream!" He turned to his side. Cream faced him so that their eyes met. Tails reached out and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "You can do many things," Tails spoke more calmly. "You doubting yourself is the only thing that is holding you back. Do you understand?"

Cream nodded her head. "But that's why I came to you guys. I know that you guys are more capable in making an effect."

"You can help us, Cream," Sonic clenched a fist and held it out over the table. "If it wasn't for you, then we probably wouldn't even think that there was something we can do."

Tails slowly moved his hand forward. he placed it over Sonic's fist. Cheese was quick to follow as the Chao place his small stub over both of the gloved paws. Everyone turned expectantly towards Cream. The young girl gave a soft smile in gratitude. Her eyes watered in joy as she finally placed her hand on top.

Cream was ecstatic to have such wonderful friends that loved her as much as she loved them.

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><p><strong>Next chapter would have been the rest of this one...<strong>


	14. How She Got Here

**I'm excited. Are you guys? I am!**

**Now I wanted to take this time to thank scottusa1 for all the comments! Really! You've been supportive to me for almost every chapter! And thank you to the +2,000 views I have been honored with! And WHOOP! to you if you've decided to stay with me this long!**

**Now... things are going to start to get more emotional through the story. I remember when I first wrote out the plot points of this story in my notebook and now I am so excited to finally write this chapter! I can finally do it! Whoop! But that doesn't mean this story is anywhere near done! If anything we are only half way through!**

**EDIT: THIS IS THE 2ND CHAPTER POSTED IN ONE NIGHT! SO IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ AN UPDATE FROM ME THEN READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS ON! IT WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE CHAPTER COMING OUT AFTER THIS!**

**Be warned, this is pretty long.**

**Chapter: How She Got Here**

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><p>"<em>Way to get lost<em>," Amy internally scolded herself. Of course she had to lose track of where she was going once more. That's how it always worked out. Amy would be thinking it would be fun to adventure through the trees to clear her mind, but was it really smart? No.

Amy groaned outwardly. She pushed her hand up her forward and lightly pulled on her bangs. "Why does this always have to happen to me?" She looked up at the sky, wondering if someone could hear her. She knew that the clouds could not give her an answer.

The pink hedgehog quietly sighed to herself. She thought back to her conversation that she had with Cream. Amy wasn't sure if she would change the actions that she had taken. Yes, she did regret being so rude, but she couldn't think straight at the time. She wasn't sure if she was even thinking right at the moment.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told Cream as much as I did," Amy spoke aloud, pretending that the trees could respond. Tilted her head up towards the foliage, taking in every detail she can on all the rippled edges. "I'm so used to keeping to myself that having a close friend just makes me want to tell her everything. Maybe I should. Maybe I shouldn't. People will think I'm crazy but would she judge me? Would anyone here judge me? Everyone is so weird here that it's now normal to me. On top of that, I believe I fit in with these people."

Amy dryly laughed, coughing half way through. The air at the moment was hot and dry. The shade did very little to calm down the nasty temperatures. Amy whipped a bead of sweat from her face before continuing on her way.

Through the trees she could see a flash of a building in the distance. The girl was intrigued of what it specifically was and approached it. Amy broke through a tree lining and into a small clearing. She looked over the very plain structure.

A two floored house seemed out of place in the location. Why would one person choose to live alone when there was plenty of space over the rolling hills? Amy stood still as she narrowed her eyes at the home. It lacked color with a simple white coat over it. No flowers decorated the base of the building. Not even a stone path led up to the front door.

"_Now, Amy_," her mind scolded herself, "_you have seen enough movies to know not to go up to a house in the middle of the woods. Don't you dare think about approaching it in any way!_" Amy smirked to herself. She was truly curious of who would live alone as so. "_You idiot! Don't go up to the door! You never listen to me!_" By the time she stood at the front, she already knew that common knowledge didn't apply to her. "And I never will," she murmured to herself.

Amy hesitated for a breath before she knocked softly on the door. There was no answer. Not even the sound of someone shuffling on the other side of the door was erupted. The girl remained patient for anyone to answer. She took a whole two minutes of listening to the rustle of trees before knocking once more. No one answered again. Amy was sure to knock louder, in case if they couldn't hear her. Before the thought of giving up and accepting that the owner wasn't home, someone called out.

"Sonic! Leave me alone you annoying hedgehog!"

Amy stood there speechless with her hand still hanging in front of the door. "Sonic?" she whispered to herself. Now the girl was even more curious. "Um, I-I'm not Sonic," she stuttered, still feeling confused.

Still Amy didn't hear an answer. It was quiet as she just stared at the door. "_Should I go now?_"

Amy turned around and walked a few steps forward. Over her shoulder she heard the turn of the door knob. Amy, caught off guard, jumped around and watched the door swing open. The girl gasped with wide eyes when she saw who it was.

"What are _you_ doing at my house?" Shadow folded his arms and leaned against his door frame. He didn't seem pleased to have an intruder on his property.

"You live here?" Amy asked, completely ignoring his question.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her. "No. I just keep everything I own here and sleep in a bed at night." His voice was coated with sarcasm. Amy scoffed at his comment. She didn't appreciate it when people spoke to her as if she had no brain.

"Well I didn't know it was your house. I would have expected you to live in a cave of some sort." Amy also folded her arms and tilted her chin up. She smiled with a self-satisfied expression on her face.

Shadow smirked at her comment. Of course she would think something like that. Obviously, the dark hedgehog would be into everything goth. Or at least that's what people assumed.

"Really," Shadow over looked her, "what are you doing here?"

"I got lost." Amy shrugged as Shadow let out a tired sigh. Amy realized that the first time she had met him she was lost. The girl blushed in embarrassment that she only met him when she was in trouble.

"I'm not taking you home again," Shadow waved her off before turning to go inside his own house once more. Amy stood their speechless when she looked upon his receding form. The front door was left open and she took it upon herself to enter behind him and close the door behind her.

Amy instantly looked around the interior. No trace of mementos boarded up the walls or sat on shelves. She wasn't sure what she was expecting it to look like. Everything was so blank she wouldn't think that he had been living there all this time.

Shadow took a seat at a wooden table as Amy followed quickly beside him. "It's funny," Amy pondered aloud, "today I was just thinking about how I haven't seen you in nearly two months."

"You think about me?" Shadow raised an eyebrow at the now flustered girl.

"No!" Amy quickly defended. "Nothing like that! It just occurred to me while I was talking to Cream."

Shadow smirked once more at how uncomfortable she had become. "Yes, it has been awhile. I tend not to play little games with you and your friends."

Amy huffed in her seat, "We don't 'play little games.' Most of us are almost adults."

"Hence the term 'almost'," Shadow muttered under his breath.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Anyways," she thought of it best to change the subject before they could get into a fight, "I actually think there is something I want to talk to you about."

Shadow was silent as he looked over the girl. She had a serious expression on her face. Her green eyes were large and round enough for him to see his reflection in them. Amy took this moment of quiet as her cue to continue on.

"So I may or may not be leaving soon, and before I go, I really want you to tell me what you were going to about Sonic."

Shadow continued to be silent. His blank stare didn't deceive Amy; she knew that he was thinking. "No."

"'No'?" Amy looked accusingly at him. "Why not? He and I are good friends!"

Shadow tilted his head at the thought. Even though Amy hadn't seen him since the incident with Eggman, he has seen her. Shadow moves around often. Throughout the days, he was able to witness Sonic and Amy hanging out with one another. Whether if it was just one-on-one or a group meeting, they were often talking to one another.

But still, Amy hadn't known him very long.

"If you guys are such good friends, why didn't you tell him all about yourself? And if he truly trusted you, why didn't he tell you all that he has told me?"

Amy was caught off guard. She frowned at the questions given to her. "What do you mean all about me? He knows how I used to live in an apartment in the city. He knows my name and my favorite color. He knows what I can do with my hammer. What more is there really?"

Shadow openly made a clicking sound in disapproval. "That is not what I'm talking about. I know how you are an orphan. You lived alone your whole life, having to support yourself. Let me guess, you didn't have much friends, did you?"

Amy's eyes widened in horror. "How did you know that? I never told you anything like that!"

Shadow smirked mischievously. He shrugged as if it wasn't much of a problem. "I just did a background check. I only got the facts. The whole 'no friends' thing was really just an inference. But I was right, wasn't I?"

Amy scoffed once more and rolled her eyes. She suddenly felt in a sour mood towards him. Someone who is barely a friend already knew much that she would rather keep to herself. "You don't have to know anything, stalker," she spat the name calling out.

Shadow raised both of his eyebrows at her in pure amusement. He couldn't care less of what she thought of him. "No need to get defensive. It's actually good that I found this out on my own instead."

Amy tilted her head towards him. She was still uncomfortable with the idea of him knowing such a personal fact about her. But the girl had to give him some credit. No one was so carefree about it. Anyone that did find out only looked sympathetic upon her. Even Cream would be caught sometimes giving Amy an apologetic look whenever she was with her own mother. The pink hedgehog would never admit it, but it infuriated her to no end.

Amy wasn't sure where Shadow was going with his statement though. "What do you mean?" she slowly questioned with a skeptical attitude.

"It lets me know that you can keep a secret when necessary."

"So," Amy thought over aloud, "does that mean I had proven myself to you?"

"No," Shadow gave a short laugh. "I still don't know if you just want some information on the famous hero."

"_He's not really famous,_" Amy thought to herself. She didn't even know that Sonic had existed until arriving here. It often slipped the girl's mind that people looked up to him. She remembered one day being utterly confused when a little boy ran up to Sonic and asked to have a picture with him.

"I don't think anyone else could notice, but you are really suspicious," Shadow interrupted her thoughts.

Amy gave a mock laugh at his statement, even though she didn't comprehend what he was talking about. "Me? 'Suspicious'? What about you? You live in the middle of the woods. I've never seen you with friends or so. You searched my background, which is really creepy."

"You can't judge me," Shadow snapped, although he didn't sound truly angry. "You want background information on Sonic, which sounds like something some sort of fan girl would do. But let's think this through. You just show up and almost right away you seem overly intrigued with that blue idiot to the point where you try to get information about him from someone who is almost a complete stranger to you. Explain that to me."

"I'm not 'some sort of fangirl,'" Amy argued. "I can just sense something is weird with Sonic. I'm just curious. He has that whole 'I-don't-care-about-anything' attitude. Isn't that weird of a person? Someone shouldn't act so- so- so like that."

Shadow stared at Amy. His blood red eyes were piercing into her green ones. Amy slowly bit on her bottom lip. The girl was nervous. It may not be clear to everyone, but the dark hedgehog could see it.

"Liar," Shadow whispered. He squinted his eyes slight at her and slowly shook his head. "I can understand how that is reasonable and may be part of the truth, but there is much more to that."

Amy's eyes became larger. Her mouth hung open at him, unable to form the words. She couldn't breathe correctly to protest at him. To call out his lies, making herself innocent.

"Don't even bother lying to defend yourself," Shadow held his hand up to halt her. "I'm not one of your do gooder friends. I, myself, have lied real easily, although I do prefer to not tell false. But this has allowed me to be able to easily call out someone else on their words."

Shadow placed both of his elbows on the table. He leaned in close to Amy, causing the girl to lean as far back in her seat as she can. He stared down at her, making the pink hedgehog feel smaller and smaller by the second. Yet, even with all of the tension, Amy had not regretted coming into Shadow's house.

Her voice was thin and brittled as she spoke, "But what if it's for good? Maybe to- oh I don't know- stop a bunch of people from thinking you're crazy?"

"Either way, a lie is a lie. Whether if it has good intentions of not. A white lie is still a lie. A huge lie is defiantly a lie. A lie to spare one's reputation is a lie," Shadow smoothly lectured. The whole time his voice was slightly cold, but it didn't cause fear in the girl. She knew his tone was always like that. She instead thought of it as more of a fatherly sound, and that was strange to her.

"What do you want to know, Shadow?" Amy questioned louder. She tried her best to make it sound as if she was all business and no emotion, something that he could easily do. Unfortunately, she didn't possess the same skills like so.

Shadow leaned back, away from Amy. This allowed her to breathe once more of relief. "Tell me the story, the true story, of how you came here and why our little deal is so important to you."

Amy seemed to become panicked, "But you won't believe me! Or you'll think I'm crazy."

Shadow smirked- no smiled- at her. It was a rare smiled from him. There was no taunting look in his eyes as he gave her a comforting look. "No need for that, Rose. Many people despise me for my own past stories, but those are much worse than anything you could possibly have. Also, I already think you are crazy. Anyone must be insane to stay in this town."

Amy smiled back as Shadow's already began to fade.

"Plus," he included, "it would make it easier for me to trust you."

Amy became solemn as she thought over everything that had happened to her. "Promise me," she urged while looking down at her folded hands, "that you won't tell another soul what I am about to tell you."

"I promise."

She inhaled deeply. Her first few words were filled with the breath escaping her lungs, "It all started two months before I graduated from high school. It happened during the night while I was sleeping on April 10th, to be exact..."

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><p><em>I don't remember getting here. Where am I anyways? I looked around to be surrounded by a white light. It blinded my vision, preventing me from being able to see anything else, if there was even anything. My feet felt free from the ground as my pink quills around me softly lifted up. I was freely floating through the air. Am I in a dream?<em>

_"Yes, you can think of it as a dream if you want to."_

_I gasped and looked next to me. Had I said that out loud? I can't remember. I looked at the girl at my side. She was unaffected by the lack of gravity. I couldn't remain still. I was in a laid down position, slowly gliding near her head. The girl was standing on a ground I could not see. It looked like more of the white light._

_She giggled at my reaction with her thin hand over her mouth. Her fur was a simple brown with small ears pointed at the top of her head. Her hair waved over her head and down to her shoulders. Her bangs were thick and swerved off to the side to reveal her face. She had the lightest blue eyes to match her long dress. A small, golden tiara sparkled like the gleam her orbs held._

_The girl reached up to my hand and pulled me down next to her. She sat me on the floor and scooted next to me._

_"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to surprise you."_

_"Who are you?" I over looked her once more. She was a very thin squirrel. She appeared to be some sort of princess. I am not surprised if that is her title, she fits the look of a princess._

_"That is not important right now," she smiled down at me. Her smile was so kind and welcoming. "I need you to do something for me. It's a very important task that I chose you for."_

_I laughed. This is such a strange dream. "Whatever you want," I played along with it._

_Her expression became more sincere. "This is no joke, Amy Rose," she fully stated my name. I didn't even bother to question how she knew my name. Everyone in dreams knew as much as I, myself, knew. "This is no simple dream," she tried to convince me. Her thin fingers pinched deeply on my skin. I felt the pain from her nails and retracted my arm away from her immediately. I stared down at the small mark on my arm that was quickly fading._

_"What was that for?" I almost yelled while rubbing my pained arm._

_"If this was a plain dream," she stood up and looked down at me, "then you wouldn't have felt that." She continued to talk before I could even make a retort. "You are asleep but this is no dream, even though that is the best term you have to describe what is occurring. I am contacting you through your mind at the moment. I have been in search for someone worthy of a task for me. I have chosen you."_

_"This can't be real," I shook my head and also stood up. Once more, my feet were lifted from the ground._

_The girl gave me a tired look and held on to my hand. For once I was the one looking down at her. This time she didn't bother to pull me back down. Her hand kept a firm grip on mine._

_"Amy," she spoke more serious, "you have to listen to me. I know people who are going to be in serious trouble soon. One of them is a very old friend of mine. I need you to go to them."_

_"What friends?" I was now truly curious. It may have been foolish for me to begin to understand that this was not a dream. Everything felt real. Her hand in mine was warm compared to my cold and numb fingers. "And what am I to do? None of this makes any sense!"_

_I could slowly feel the pressure on me to float away getting stronger. The girl also sensed this and looked a little disappointed. "Oh dear," she looked me in the eyes, "it seems you are trying to wake up. It takes a lot of energy to talk to people this way. I think it's best if I let you go."_

_"Let me go?!" I didn't want to drift into the void of nothingness. I felt her grip loosen on mine. I reached down with my other hand and held on tightly to her arm._

_"It's okay, Amy," she smiled, "most dreams are short like this. And I know you may not understand but just do as I say. Go to my friend and help him."_

_"Help him?! Who?!" She was being unbelievably vague. The girl just smiled in response to my confusion. Is she doing this to me on purpose? Trying to mess with my mind and leave me with no answers? It seemed cruel for someone who spoke so nicely._

_Her arm slipped out of my grip. I tried desperately to reach out to her as the air drifted me up and away. I watched as the squirrel slowly shrunk away from me. She lifted her hand up and waved. Her honey voice called out one more time, "Help him, Amy! Save my friend!"_

_I jumped in my bed, suddenly awake. I let the rush of feeling as if I'm floating run over me. My bed was a heavy weight on my shoulders now. I stared up at the ceiling with my arms spread out at my sides._

_I furrowed my eyebrows at the memory. It didn't have that distant feeling most of my dreams gave me. It still felt like everything that occurred was a reality. Was it actually real? No. The idea was preposterous. I'm just going crazy. It's another lunatic idea I have subconsciously invented for myself._

_I rolled over to look at my clock. It's 5 O'clock in the morning and I'm wide awake._

* * *

><p>"Is that it?" Shadow asked, sounding uninterested. Everyone had strange dreams of their own. This one didn't seem like that big of a deal. Although, thinking about it, something about it sounded very familiar to the dark hedgehog.<p>

"No!" Amy scowled. "That was just the beginning. It was the first and last time I had that dream. Soon things began to pop up everywhere during the day. The first time happened immediately that morning." Amy thought back to the tie in her small apartment. Shivers went up her arms at the memory.

"Are you going to tell me the whole thing?" Shadow narrowed his eyes. It was easy to tell that he was becoming impatient with her.

Amy returned the facial expression. "I will if you stop interrupting me." Shadow silently nodded his head once. Amy took the gesture and continued.

* * *

><p><em>I pulled the sheets from my body. I was slightly grossed out at the idea that they were damp in sweat. It's not the most attractive thing to have ever happened to me.<em>

_I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I padded into my living room. Everything was at peace except for one detail. Curious, I went over to my school back pack. I was sure that last night I had put it away in the closet. Now, it laid open over the coffee table. Several stacks of paper spread from my bag, over the table, and onto the floor._

_They looked like ripped pieces of newspaper. I bent down and picked up a scrap off of the floor. I scanned it before picking up another one. It was easy to tell that each paper were identical to one another. I don't remember taking these slips home or cutting them out._

_The ad had a very simple font to the text._

_"Tutor/ governess wanted. Teachings done during the summer._

_Will proved food and shelter during work session._

_Call 1-254-255-2675 to apply!"_

_I furrowed my eyebrows once more at the paper slip. I don't necessary need the job at the moment. It didn't even mention any pay._

_I picked up all the pieces of paper and dumped them in the trash. I glanced at the rest of my small dorm. Nothing else seemed out of place. All of the dishes in the kitchen were still neatly put away. Pictures and magnets still stuck to the fridge that was full of food. School books were left untouched on the shelves next to my bed. The white carpet wasn't stained with anything red._

_That's strange. Why would someone stuff up my back pack and leave it left out but not touch anything else? I didn't want to venture further into the thoughts of having a burglar coming in and out of my home. Although, nothing seems to be missing._

_For safety measures, I double checked to see if my front door was unlocked. To my relief, it was locked like usual._

_I decided to ignore this strange incident and continue on with my day._

* * *

><p>"So how did all of those ads get inside your bag?" Shadow was leaning back in his chair. His arms were folded once more across his chest. Amy was starting to think that they were glued that way.<p>

Amy scrunched up her nose. "I thought I told you to not interrupt me." Amy set her elbows up on the table. She rested her head on the palms of her hands. She didn't have to tell him everything. Amy still found it bizarre that she was so easy to give up important information to Shadow. She didn't even want to tell Cream this.

Shadow nonchalantly shrugged. "You did. But you are not one to tell me what to do. So I did not listen."

Amy huffed in response while narrowing her eyes. "You'll find out your answer if you were just more patient."

Shadow didn't bother defending himself against her. He just mindlessly waved his hand in her direction, silently telling the girl to continue.

* * *

><p><em>I was sure to sit at the back of the public bus. I couldn't help but give a disgusted expression when looking upon the gum stuck to the back of the seat in front of me. My head fell lazily to the side as I read over the graffiti written at the wall below the window.<em>

_"K + R, " was scribbled on the inside of a messy heart. I couldn't help but wonder if the "K" and "R" were still together. Someone else had written, "Rico wuz here! #yolo!" in one of the sloppiest handwriting I've ever seen. I couldn't help but chuckle at it._

_One thing stood out of the rest. I straightened up at the sight of what was obviously freshly written. In neat and blue cursive, "Help him!" was boldly written. It was so weird to read that. It must be a pure coincidence. Slightly disturbed, I avoided my gaze from any more of the writing._

_Out the window, I could look upon the billboards on the sides of buildings. One was promoting another fast food restaurant. It was claiming to be healthy but I, along with everyone else, knew that half of it was just grease._

_My eyes widened when I read another thing with the text, "Help him!" The board showed a picture of a little boy helping another one up to his feet. It had nothing to do with me. Shaking my head to myself, I continued to look out the window._

_It was a short time until I saw another suspicious billboard. "Don't ignore me!" Once more it felt like the writing was talking to me. But it couldn't be. It was a billboard about paying bills._

_I thought back once more to the dream. It still felt like it had actually happened. I looked down at my arm, where the squirrel had scratched me. There were small bumps on my arm in the shape of thin crescents. I counted four of them. No. This couldn't be happening._

_Panicking, I tried to rub them away. It didn't work and only left my arm numb._

_I couldn't help but glance at the graffiti once more. "Call her!" was written in the same blue ink and neat cursive. Some part of me instantly knew what it was talking about. I shakily slipped my backpack off and peaked inside of it. All of my text books were there and unharmed. I sighed in relief to see that it wasn't invaded with the newspaper ad once more._

* * *

><p>"What does 'hashtag yolo' mean?" Shadow said it with great confusion. The words felt so weird coming from his mouth. And to Amy they sounded so weird.<p>

"I really don't feel like explaining that," Amy said as she mulled over the idea of her defining internet slang to the dark hedgehog. She suppressed a laugh. "Anyways, you aren't even going to question me about the billboards and graffiti?"

Shadow shook his head horizontally, "No, I feel like what you told me is all you knew at the time."

Amy wasn't sure if he had just insulted her or not, she hoped that he hadn't though. "Well, all of these little 'signs' had gone on for about two weeks. One day I caved in."

* * *

><p><em>I can feel another headache approaching. I reached up to a cabinet for some aspirin. I groaned in frustration to not only find that there was no more left, but paper cutouts overflowed from it a fell to my feet. I instantly recognized them. It was that ad that I came to despise.<em>

_"I won't call!" I declared out loud. Maybe I am truly a crazy person if I am now talking to myself. I took a fistful of the newspaper and trudged quickly towards my window. I threw it opened and tossed out the paper, allowing it to drift down to the streets below me._

_I stared at the fluttering papers. They all drifted to the ground and eventually landed. People walked by and stepped on them. Cars ran over the litter, causing it to become crumpled. No one paid mind to the scattered paper._

_I sighed in relief and raised my eyes from the far ground. I was stuck staring at another large sign across the street. It seemed so innocent being plastered on the side of a building. It pointed directly at me with one simple word, "Please?"_

_I rolled my eyes and retreated back to the inside of my room. This didn't stop me from observing the board. It had no trick to it. The entire background was a solid white. The letters curved perfectly in blue cursive. I knew that this was for me._

_It couldn't be that bad. Getting a job easily as soon as I graduate isn't exactly easy to find. I've tutored people before, so it couldn't be that hard._

_I slowly walked into my small kitchen once more. I stood over the rest of the discarded papers I didn't bother even touching. Sighing to myself, I decided to get this over with. It couldn't be that even though I didn't really know what I was doing or who I was supposed to help._

_Or maybe this was going to be hard._

_I dialed in the number. It was a full two rings before someone had answered._

_"Hello, this is Vanilla. Who am I talking to?"_

_"I'm Amy Rose. There was an ad in the newspaper about a summer job."_

* * *

><p>"So I passed the phone interview and got a job here. When I first came I said that I just wanted to get out of the city. I have to admit that could be a factor since it is too noisy and the air is nowhere as clean there as it is here. But in the end I came here because I believe that I have a destiny to make a change in someone's life," with that, Amy concluded her story.<p>

Shadow stared at the girl for a few moments. Amy felt under pressure to what he might say. "Well?.." she asked, hoping for a positive response.

"So, you think that this person may be Sonic?" Shadow brought his index finger up to his chin.

Amy thought for a moment. When she first arrived she had figured that it would be Cream, but then remembered that it was a "him" she needed to find. Her guess then crossed to Tails. But Tails seemed perfectly okay. He was always happy and had his technology as a hobby. Amy then thought of Sonic. Lately, she hasn't been thinking of it being him, but he was always a candidate.

"When I first met Sonic, I instantly saw his carefree attitude and lack of showing any real emotion."

Shadow scoffed at her comment. "A lot of people prefer to hide their emotions, what makes him any special?"

"I'm not saying he is more special than anyone else," Amy didn't want to build up Sonic's ego anymore, "but it is never healthy when someone sticks to one feeling. It's different from feeling happy to acting happy. Kind of like you."

This sparked Shadow's interest. He tilted his head at the girl, silently questioning her.

Amy slightly raised her hand at him. "Before you lecture me, don't think that I haven't noticed that all the times I have seen you you are scowling in some way or giving me a smirk: which doesn't count as a real smile."

Shadow sighed, "Let's not talk about me." Amy couldn't agree anymore. She knew that it was dangerous when talking to Shadow; she had to be very careful. "Are you only friends with Sonic because of this?"

Amy quickly shook her head in an immediate response. "Of course not! How could you ever think that? I don't know if it's him! It could be any of the other guys and I'm still friends with them! But even as a friend of Sonic's I worry about him. Even if this isn't my job, I want to help him anyways. But if it is him, then... it's him."

"How exactly will you know it's him?"

Amy thought to herself. She thought back to the only time she had talked to the female squirrel. "I believe that I'll just know when the time comes."

It became silent between the two. The ticking of the clock filled in the background noise in the small and plain house. Shadow stood up and walked to the front door. Amy slowly followed behind him.

"I'm taking you home," he announced. He casted a look over his shoulder. Amy noticed how he and a lot of other people had to look down at her due to her lack of height. "Also," he included, "as much as I liked your story, and it did help me find trust in you, you still have yet to prove yourself to me."

The pink hedgehog's mouth was left slightly opened. She didn't complain or argue. Amy heaved her breath in a defeated matter. "_I'm so tired of all these vague commands._"

Amy grinned to herself as she was hoisted up and onto Shadow's back. "Heh, I thought you said you weren't giving me a ride home."

The dark hedgehog growled in response.

* * *

><p><strong>BAM! I need a break!<strong>


	15. Amy's Hope

**Whoop! One more chapter!**

**Heads up: I am going on a mission trip Aug 26 and will be a full week behind in writing. I guess that's not too bad, but expect the next chapter to be in about two weeks...**

**Also this may be another long chapter, I don't know if that's good or bad...**

**That's all I got, read on!**

**Chapter: Amy's Hope**

* * *

><p>By the time Amy had gotten home, she realized that the sun had almost fully set. The sky was tinted with a burning orange. Scattered clouds were darkened with a deep purple color. Shadow's stretched to their tallest height of the day. Finally, as the sun was setting downwards, the heat calmed into a soothing temperature.<p>

Amy hopped off of Shadow's back. He casted a look over her before heading off after a silent goodbye. Amy stared at his back while he quickly disappeared.

"So I guess Cream was telling the truth."

Amy jumped and turned towards the source of the voice. Sonic was looking out one of the windows. The pink hedgehog jokingly scowled at him before entering the house. She looked down at Sonic, who was now lounging on Vanilla's couch.

Amy placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at him. "Where you spying on me?" she raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "And what do you mean about Cream?" The girl tilted her chin upwards slightly.

Sonic grinned at her. He rested his hands behind his head and crossed his ankles. "I have no idea what you mean," he played innocent.

Sonic really didn't want to stay on the topic about Shadow. He had to admit that he did keep it on the down low that he enjoys his time with Shadow. It was also strange to Sonic that someone else also befriended Shadow. The only person he knew who was acquainted to Shadow for a long time was Rouge, and even they had stopped talking ever since Shadow wanted nothing to do with working for Doctor Eggman.

Amy took a seat at the end of the couch, near Sonic's shoes. She could feel his eyes burning into the side of her skull. Amy resorted to staring at the houseplant in front of her for a moment. She observed the long, oval petals stained with the color yellow. The small centers glowed with a light orange covered in pollen.

Finding it pointless to try and focus on the boring object, Amy finally faced Sonic. Her eyes met up with his. Their green intertwined with shinning colors. Amy always remembered what Cryssi had said about her and Sonic. She was also reminded that the girl was way off.

Their eyes were no where near the same shade. Yes, green was simple way to describe the color. But Amy could easily tell a difference. Maybe it was because she knew her own eyes best. She knew her exact color and how it could differ from others. Sonic's eyes were more of a jewel shade. She could see how flashes of emerald were lined with harlequin green.

"Are you okay?" Sonic interrupted her thoughts. Amy blinked a few times to break their stare. The blue hedgehog had noticed she seemed oddly observant. "You seem absent minded."

Amy waved him off and returned her gaze to the flowers ahead of her. "Not absent minded," Amy shook her head.

"Right," Sonic didn't sound at all convinced. He rolled his eyes at her attempt to lie. "You are one to be more focused," Sonic noted out loud. Amy replied with just a small hum. Sonic found her behavior awfully strange. He wondered if it was something having to with Shadow. Or it could be stress from having to move out.

Sonic knew at the moment that Cream was currently working on their plan to help Amy stay with them longer. Sonic already did his part in their "plan." It wasn't anything too big, in his opinion. But he really did hope that Amy would appreciate it.

He decided it would be a good time to bring up the topic at hand, "So Amy, Cream kind of told me about your... situation." He tried his best to not sound awkward. Sonic feared that she may become upset at the subject.

To his relief, she wasn't upset at all, or at least she did not sound upset. "Oh, she did?" Amy was now fumbling with her fingertips. She couldn't be surprised that they knew. Cream wasn't one to gossip, but when faced with a problem, she would seek out friends immediately. "Wh- what do you think about it?" Amy stuttered when she looked up at him once more: this time her gaze was not as intense.

Sonic shrugged, "I don't think anything bad is going to happen." The hedgehog was trying to get the girl before him to not pointlessly worry. He didn't want to give away that for the past four hours him, Cream and Tails have been working on Amy's resume and speaking to Vanilla about Amy paying rent. It was also during those times that Sonic had thought of an even better idea.

Amy wasn't surprised at his comment. Leave it to Sonic to not worry. "Oh really," she questioned in a high tone, "and what makes you so sure about that?" He never justified why he was ever so happy about everything. Even when he could worry, he didn't seem to mind anything. Amy could clearly remember how carefree he had seemed when she first saw him having a battle against Eggman, even though he _did_ pass out for a moment.

Sonic didn't pay much mind to the question, "I just am."

Silence fell over them once more. Sonic didn't like silence. Just sitting in one spot wasn't okay when he was trying to keep someone company. "Let's go for a run," he suddenly suggested. Sonic already sprung to his feet before he could give Amy a chance to answer him. He stretched out his long legs and rolled his shoulders. Sonic tilted his head to both sides as he cracked his neck. He now felt more loose and ready to move.

Amy stood up next to him. She didn't seem as pumped as he was at the idea. "You know I can't run as fast as you," Amy stated the obvious.

Sonic grinned at her. "I already know that. I'm the fastest thing alive," he motioned with pride at his bold statement. Amy could only roll her eyes at that statement. Of course she knew that. Anyone who knew Sonic was well aware of the fact that he was a great runner.

"I had no idea," she said with sarcasm but still flashed him a bright smile.

Sonic gave her a mischievous look. The girl some how had an idea of what he was thinking. She narrowed her eyes and took a step back. "Don't you even dare," she made her voice low and threatening. Sonic clearly ignored the girl's command and quickly grabbed Amy.

"Well I guess it's time that I prove it," he declared. Sonic scooped her up into his arms. He didn't bother to comment on how light Amy was. She gasped as she felt him lift her up. One of his arms supported her back as the other held up her knees. Amy's muzzle turned into a lighter red as she felt her cheek brush his chest. Sonic grinned at her reaction.

He took off, leaving Cream's house behind. Amy felt the wind pull her quills back. She squinted her eyes as the air whipped at her face. The world around her went by in a blur. She could hear the grass rustle around them as Sonic ran on.

Amy noticed how being with Sonic while he ran wasn't as smooth as it was with Shadow. The dark hedgehog glided across the ground. Now, she could feel the light pounding of Sonic's feet hitting the ground vibrate through their bodies. Amy wouldn't admit it out loud, but she preferred Sonic's faster running.

Sonic never really took people with him to run. This was rare. There had only been one other time Sonic carried Amy with him as he ran. It was one of the first things that signaled the starting of their friendship after they ran from Tails's house when seeing the Eggbot.

Amy's hands found their way behind Sonic's neck. Her fingers intertwined underneath his large, blue quills.

Sonic went into the forest. He slyly darted through the trees. His foot didn't falter over any tree stump or root. Amy had to admire how skilled he was. She knew that she would end up tripping if she tried to dart through obstacles like him.

"Hey Sonic," Amy softly spoke to get his attention. He glanced at her for a second before turning his head back on their trail. "Huh?" he hummed to her. Amy shifted her own gaze from his face and looked in the direction the went. "Well I was just wondering," she continued, "what exactly were you doing sitting in Cream's house?"

Sonic hadn't exactly thought up a good excuse for himself. His real reason was to stall Amy while Cream and Tails continued to work. They weren't allowed to show Amy her surprised until the next week. For most of the time, Sonic was told to keep Amy busy while his two friends continued to do their part in the plan.

"I was, err," Sonic spoke quickly, trying to make something up on the spot, "admiring their couch."

"'Admiring their couch'?" Amy laughed as she quoted him. She grinned up at the male hedgehog, "You should try the coffee table, it's really nice." Sonic grinned back for a brief moment, "I'll keep that in mind." Both of them returned to their silence.

It didn't take Sonic long to make it out of the whole other side of the forest. What usually would be a 5 hour walk took Sonic only 5 minutes to run. Amy looked around the area as the blue hedgehog slowed down. There were no homes in sight. It was easy to tell that this wide area wasn't altered by man. Yellowish grass grew over the rolling hills.

Sonic headed near a shallow pond in the middle of the field. The water looked darker with the dim lighting. By now the sun was almost completely gone. Scattered stars already began to shimmer upon the two hedgehogs. A half moon reflected light onto their surroundings. A lonely tree stood next to the pond. It had a short trunk with low branches that spread far out from one another. One particular branch hung over the still water.

Sonic stopped next to the tree. Amy cleared her throat, "Um, you can set me down now." She was hoping that he couldn't see the warmth spread across her cheeks.

Sonic did as suggest. Amy's legs felt slightly numb when standing up. It was as if she had just ridden a roller coaster five times in a row. The girl grabbed onto one of the branches and pulled herself up. She was careful to move one step at a time with a tight grip. She sat down on the long branch that wavered above the water. The girl scooted down it until she was stuck in the center with nothing but liquid under her dangling feet.

Sonic did as Amy had done and climbed the tree. He opted to staying at the core where all the branches met. Shallow or not, he didn't want to hang over the water.

Amy gave him a quizzical look for a moment before remembering that the blue hedgehog wasn't a fan of the clear substance. "Chicken," she muttered under her breath, even though Sonic heard her anyways. He crossed his arms, finding it unfair to be judged.

Sonic loudly scoffed to make sure that she could clearly hear him. "Well I bet you have fears as well," he tried to defend himself and turn the subject onto Amy.

Amy stared ahead. She could hear the crickets chirping as hundreds of fireflies flew through the air in her line of vision. She thought to herself while taking in the scenery. Fear wasn't something she often dealt with. Growing up mostly alone led her to be able to handle herself. In her old life, she never faced many life threatening situations. Her life was as ordinary and normal as ever. But as she continued to think to herself, one thing that frightened her greatly did stick out.

"You know there is one thing," she sincerely commented. Sonic's smile faded when he heard her settled tone. He could tell that the pink hedgehog was now being serious. With no response, Amy continued to speak. "I fear hatred," she sighed sadly at the idea.

"'Hatred'?" Sonic repeated. He tilted his head to the side, not understanding what the girl's reason could possibly be. "But I'm sure you hate things," he managed.

Amy shook her head when seeing that the blue hedgehog didn't catch on to what exactly she meant. Amy swung one of her legs over the branch so there was a limb on each side. Now, she could better face Sonic, who still didn't climb onto the branch that hung over the pond.

"That's disliking an _object_," she clarified. "When I'm talking about hatred, it's between people. I don't want to think that someone could hate me or that someone has such negative feelings towards me. They could talk about all the flaws in me and spread rumors. They could make my life miserable. It scares me how a person can be nice to someone but then as soon as they see someone who they hold negative feelings towards, they can be a _monster._ And then I don't want to hate anyone. So much negative emotions bring out the evil in people."

Sonic leaned back on the branches. He brought up his right elbow to lean on the bound. He cupped his own chin with his left hand, lightly tapping his thumb while doing so. "May I remind you that you hated me the first week or so after we met," he felt the need to include.

Amy furrowed her eyebrows at the statement. "I didn't hate you," she reassured him. Amy remembered being frustrated towards Sonic's behavior when she first met him. After a quick time, she could sense that he had more innocent intentions and couldn't help his cocky self. Amy pointed her index finger right at Sonic. "You're just bad at making first impressions," she blamed.

"What about Eggman?" Sonic mentioned the villain.

Amy knew that he was evil. Doctor Eggman was filled with hatred. The girl didn't want to be anything like the fat man. "Even though he can do some bad things, I can't say that I hate him," she admitted out loud.

Sonic looked at Amy. For a short moment he was shocked and his eyes were wide. He settled for a silent stare from Amy. "Me neither," he quietly agreed. Amy was caught only slightly off guard. Sonic and Eggman were enemies, but Sonic did seem like the type of guy to hate people. He was so laid back that she wouldn't think he had a single negative thought in his head. But that wasn't true.

"And Amy," Sonic added after rethinking, "I can't imagine that someone would hate you." Amy was left speechless. She wasn't expecting for him to say that. "Well, thanks," she awkwardly said with a small laugh. Amy then turned her head and continued to look out at the families of fireflies.

Sonic felt his wrist communicator vibrate under his glove. With a quick glance at Amy he jumped from the tree. The hedgehog stood far enough that the pink girl was out of earshot. He pushed the hem of his glove up to reveal the small device. Tails's contact was listed in calling for a video. Sonic answered and saw the fox's face pop up with Cream in the background.

"_Hey Sonic!_" a young voice greeted from the other end. "_We checked out all the stores on the block,_" Tails continued, "_it seemed like none of the stores were hiring._" Sonic frowned at this. They didn't have many options of stores to check out. There was a grand total of about 15 stores in the whole town. "_But_," Tails quickly added to not make his friend too depressed, "_there was one that was hiring. We sent in the job application and they said that they will call us back in three days._" That statement made Sonic feel better.

"Thanks, Tails," Sonic spoke truthfully with a sigh of relief.

"_I'll continued to keep you updated_."

With that, both friend hung up. Sonic turned back around to see Amy laying down on the grass. She was leaning against the bark of the tree with her knees brought up to her chest. Sonic hadn't even heard the girl climb down from her branch.

Sonic took a seat next to Amy. The blue hedgehog was grateful that she sat on the side of the tree facing away from the pond.

In the past couple minutes, Amy's eyes had grown heavy. It was dark out and she was surely tired. Contrasting this, Sonic was wide awake.

"You know," Amy whispered, "I still haven't gotten used to the sky at night." Her head was tilted back. She was admiring the twinkling lights through the tree branches. Sonic leaned his head back as well. Lately, he has been star gazing more.

"Yeah," he agreed, not being able to think of anything else to say.

Amy smiled. "It's really beautiful. Just thinking that I can see these burning things that are thousands- no, millions- of miles away is amazing." Her smiled turned lopsided and lazy as her head fell to the side a little.

"I've been to space a few times," Sonic recalled. "Although, every time it was because of Eggbrain or some other bad guy, but mostly Eggbrain."

Amy thought of the few times she met Eggman. "Sonic?" she moved only her eyes to look at him. She couldn't held but note that even when they sat he was about three inches taller than her. "Where has Eggman been? Tails had once told me that he was some sort of guy you dealt with a couple times a week, but I haven't in seen him in a while."

Sonic knew what Amy was saying was true. It had been a while since seeing Eggman, which also gave Sonic a lot of free time. Shadow hadn't even seen him for some time, which also meant that Sonic didn't get much information on what the villain was up to.

"I don't really know, but what ever he's doing, I'm ready for him." Sonic gave a determined look at the scenery ahead of him.

"Can you tell me about the time you went into space?" Amy murmured. Sonic could barely hear her when she was already half asleep. He didn't mind that his one listener may not even be fully paying attention.

"It was about a year and a half ago. There's this space ship thing called Space Colony ARK. Other than the fact that I was in a life threatening situation at the time, being in space was pretty cool. It had large windows so you could easily look out and into deep space. I felt like I was buried in the night sky up there. I guess in a way I was," Sonic had his own amazed look at the memory. Amy remained silent at his side.

"When you can look down at the planet," he motioned a global shape with his hands, "you suddenly feel so small." He slightly frowned to himself. "Everything you do feels like it couldn't have any effect on something so massive. It made me feel a little pointless. I swear this time I'm not trying to sound narcissistic- but _me_. The guy that was literally about to run off and stop this massive ship from destroying a world. It makes me wonder what really would have happened if I didn't stop it. I know that there have been times before when I have failed, but it only affected minimum people... including me."

Now it was really quiet. Sonic could only hear the leaves brushing against one another and the crickets chirping. He looked upon Amy expectantly for any kind of response but only found her sleeping. Her head had fallen to rest on her shoulder closest to him. This gave Sonic a view of her closed eyes and lips under the moon light. Her soft breathing was heard as a rhythmic melody. Her lowest bang slightly swung out when she exhaled and tickled her nose when she inhaled. The ears Amy usually kept perked up were now lowered as she didn't pay attention to the noises that surrounded her. Her legs had laid out in front her and the girl's arms rested on her stomach. Amy looked truly peaceful.

Sonic banished his dull thoughts and smiled at the girl. Sonic scooted forwards to lay on his back. His head fit against the curve of the of the trunk. He brought up his hands to fold through his quills and under his skull. In his new position, for once Sonic was looking _up_ at Amy.

The night felt longer as it was another hour before the boy fell asleep. To Amy it was as if only mere seconds had passed.

She warily opened her eyes, making sure to blink a few times. Her sight quickly adjusted to the morning light coming from the clear skies. Early birds constantly chirped between one another. Strands of grass stood up in her vision and poked at her head. Throughout the night she had shifted herself to lay on her side.

The girl didn't remember falling asleep. It was something that happened and she didn't even realize it until she woke up. The last thing she actually remembered was hearing Sonic say something about Eggman. It had crossed her mind for a second to wonder if he had left her or not. Amy knew better than to think that he would leave her alone in the middle of nowhere.

Still feeling fatigue, Amy closed her eyes and rolled over. While she attempted to go into slumber once more, something persistently kept prodding her nose. Amy scrunched her face in annoyance and opened her eyes. Suddenly fully awake, she gasped and jumped back. She sat up straight with her hand close to her chest as she gazed upon the still sleeping figuring that had been really close to her.

Amy blushed with the thought that she was so close to Sonic that she could feel his nose with hers. The girl was silently thankful that he hadn't woken up. She really didn't want to face the embarrassment.

She continued to look at the sleeping hero. This isn't the first time that she had caught him resting outside. Although, most of the times he had just been napping, not in a deep sleep. One arm was bent over his head so that his hand furthest from her was hidden behind his head. His other arm remained limp at his side. One ear stood up higher than the other. Amy also noticed how soft snores passed through his slightly parted lips.

She smiled down at him. She thought to herself that he had actually looked cute. The kind of cute that you would think of when you see a chao sneeze or a 21-year-old, blue hedgehog looking so innocent while he slept.

Amy was going to feel guilty waking him up. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," Amy sang while poking his nose. Sonic grunted and lightly pushed her hand away. "If anything, you're Sleeping Beauty since you fell asleep first," he mumbled without opening his eyes.

Amy put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Well then, Prince Not-So-Charming, whip that drool off your face and take Sleeping Beauty home." Sonic's eyes had shot open at the word "Prince" but then turned into a glare at the following comment. He sat up on his elbow while rubbing his dry chin with the back of his hand. Amy couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

Sonic checked his watch communicator for the time. It was currently 10 in the morning. He took note of the 8 missed calls from Tails and 11 from Vanilla. Amy also saw all of the recording of their friends trying to contact them.

"I have a hunch that Cream may have gotten worried," Amy bluntly stated. She sighed sadly with a sudden feeling of guilt. "Maybe I shouldn't have walked out on Cream," Amy admitted more to herself. Sonic gave her a sympathetic smile but no word.

He stood up and stretched out, ready once more for a quick run home. Amy was greeted with a big hug from the early teened rabbit but then left confused at the girl ran off to meet up with Tails again. The pink hedgehog was left confused and alone in the house with Sonic, who crashed on the couch for an extra three hours. By mid afternoon Sonic had declared that Amy hang out with him once more. Having nothing better to do, she agreed. By the time Amy got home in the evening, Cream had gone to bed already.

The next day, Amy was now suspicious when Cream kept their meetings short before running off. She had no idea that the rabbit was actually working on something really important. Vanilla, who knew what was going on, said nothing about it to Amy. The girl still felt bad that she hadn't had the chance to properly apologize to Cream. Once more, Amy spent the day out with Sonic.

By the fourth day Sonic had to drag Amy away from the stores with excuses on how pretty some wild flowers were just so she wouldn't accidentally run into Tails and Cream, who were also now getting help from Team Chaotix. The pink hedgehog was fully aware that the topic of her moving out was also being avoided by Sonic and anyone she talked to, but the girl played oblivious to that detail.

Day five was spent in Cream's house after Amy had mentioned a stomach ache and was forced to lay in bed all day by Vanilla. She had protested against it and mentioned that it had truthfully lasted for only ten minutes. Sonic kept her company by sitting in the couch downstairs. He didn't want to get "stomach cooties."

On the sixth day, Sonic had literally hoisted Amy over his shoulder and carried her off to keep her occupied. Amy protested loudly and squirmed in his grip. She knew something was up and had a feeling Sonic had a roll in it. The blue hedgehog just stated that he had no idea what she was saying forced her into the middle of nowhere while knowing that she wouldn't be able to make it home on her own without him.

Finally, after a week, Sonic was more than ready to reveal what their foolproof surprise to Amy was. He actually felt slightly giddy as to what her reaction would be. A feeling in him knew that it would be positive. And there was one thing that he, himself, had insisted on showing Amy. But that would be for later.

"Maybe they're dating," Amy suggested. Amy was currently leaning out her bedroom window. She had her cheek resting on her right hand as her left arm was draped across the window sill.

Sonic took over Amy's bed after intruding her room. He was pulled out of his own thoughts and gave a curious gaze at the back of her head. "Huh?"

"Tails and Cream, they're always shy around each other and _all _week she has been running off to meet him," Amy clarified. "They're probably going on little dates." Sonic laughed at the idea. He already knew what they were doing all week, and it surely wasn't dating. But the idea of the two coming together wasn't such a bizarre idea. Sonic was regretful to admit that he wasn't exactly sure on how Tails felt towards the rabbit. If he had to guess, he would assume the fox had a crush.

Amy straightened up from the window and turned around to face Sonic. He was laying on his back with all of his limbs spread out in a starfish position. Amy plopped down on the bed right next to him. She was sure to land between his arm and leg to not crush him.

"So now what are you going to hassle me into doing today?" Amy grinned up at him.

Sonic rolled his eyes at her. "Don't pretend that you don't like hanging out with me."

"Double negative," Amy sang at his side, which earned her another eyeroll.

"You get my point."

"Hmm," Amy cupped her chin. She did her best to impersonate how she would imagine a professor would sound, "I see. And based on our scientific evidence, how have you come up with the conclusion that I like being kidnapped?"

Sonic pshed at her statement before playfully nudging her shoulder. Amy responded by bumping him back. Before they knew it, they were wrestling to see who could get knocked off the bed first. In the end it was Sonic who found himself laying on his back with the carpet right underneath him. "I let you win," were his only words.

Amy smirked down at him. "Sure you did," she spoke with heavy sarcasm.

* * *

><p>Cream jumped up and down rapidly as she clapped her hands. Tails smiled at her eagerness. Team Chaotix all sat in the booth behind her, sipping down their milkshakes. Rouge and Knuckles, as much as they were "dying" to, couldn't come.<p>

"Did you call Sonic?" Cream asked Tails. The boy slightly blushed at how close the girl was standing to him before nodding his head. "Yeah," he confirmed, "he said that he'll be by with Amy in a couple of minutes. He mentioned 'just as soon as she stops bragging about her victory in their battle to the death on the homeland'?" Cream casted him a look as he returned a bewildered one. "I have no idea what that means."

"Sonic and Amy have become really close friends lately," Cream remarked. Tails awkwardly nodded as they settled into silence. It was Cream who had something on her mind. "I have a great time yesterday," she spoke softly. Tails, who was obviously caught off guard looked upon the girl. It was her turn to be shy as she focused on the ground and fiddled with the end of her ear. Tails cleared his throat so her gaze would reach him once more. He smiled warmly, "Me too."

Neither of the younger ones were planning on telling anyone, but three of the seven days the past week weren't actually spent on helping out with their plan to get Amy to stay. Secret dates, both pretended it was strictly platonic, occurred between them.

After turning in the resume for a job, they were left with nothing to do the next day. Both finding it enjoyable to be in one another's company, Tails had asked for Cream's assistance in building something the next day. They had ended up spending 12- probably more- hours in creating a pointless robot.

The next time they had accidentally got sidetracked for the entire day and ended up sitting in the diner with unfinished paper work on Amy's preference of wall color and her favorite things.

And lastly yesterday, when all their work was done, both wanted to admire what they had accomplished. It had ended with a hug... or four.

After their little moment, a bell rang through the air. All five of them turned their heads to see a smiling Sonic and a confused Amy. The hedgehog quickly scanned the area before locking eyes with Cream. Both girls shared a reuniting hug with one another. Cream bounced in Amy's arm with a wide grin on her face. "We have something very important to tell you," Cream explained.

Amy, Tails, Cream, and Sonic sat at a table next to the booth. It was clear to the pink hedgehog that everyone around her was aware of something she wasn't. "Okay guys," she finally said, tired of the charade, "what are you all up to?"

It was Cream who was given you the honors to tell. "We got you a job!" she announced.

Amy was clearly taken by surprise. "What? A job? But- but why? How?"

"It was simple," Cream proudly said, "we made a ton of copies of your job applications. Actually, I think we may have over done it since we only needed about 30 but ended up making 300." Amy gaped at the girl, she was still shocked. "Anyways, with limited offerings to the people who live here, all the jobs were taken! Cryssi's father couldn't even hire, or at least that's what she told us. But luckily Charmy had stepped in. He knows the owner of this place and was able to pull a few strings to finally get them to hire you!"

Amy smiled brightly. "That's great, Cream! Maybe now I can pay your mother rent so I could continue to live in your house!"

"That wont be needed, Amy," the rabbit sighed happily. With this, Amy had became confused once again. "You see," Tails cut in, "the whole job thing really only took about one and a half days. It was Sonic's idea to give you something even more special. It's kind of in hope that you'll be staying with us for a long time and a thank you for being such a great friend."

Amy turned to Sonic with an eyebrow raised. He just leaned back with a self-satisfied look. She knew that he had something to do with this.

Sonic stood up and dramatically bowed at Amy, mocking the actions of a butler. "Ms. Rose, if you would please come this way." He straightened up. "Or let me give you a piggy back ride since it would be faster," he added as an afterthought.

Sonic led Amy outside. The girl had decided to just walk instead so that all of their friends could keep. She decided on their walk to play the guessing game.

"Let me think," she said out loud to the group. "It's something that Sonic had came up with and you guys were working on it all week." She hummed loudly and rubbed her chin. "Is it a giant statue of him? Because I really wouldn't be surprised."

Everyone laughed as Sonic nodded in approval. "I like the way you think Ms. Rose," he commented. "Maybe we should have just done that instead."

"'Ms. Rose'?" Amy repeated. "Since when have you addressed me so formally?"

"Since I became your escort," Sonic simply said with a grin.

At one point Tails then walked closer at her side with Cream so he could cover her eyes. He was not allowing her to get a sneak peak. Cream giggled and helped guide Amy down the dirt road.

"We're really close," the rabbit enthusiastically chanted. Amy could feel herself drowning in the suspense. She sighed of relief when they had finally stopped. Tails and Cream slowly pulled away their hands to let Amy see in front of her.

The girl let her sight adjust and settle on a two floored house. The house had a small front porch supported by white, rectangular beams. A stone path started at the edge of the yard and led straight to the door. Next to the path, Amy read a small sign.

"_The house of AMY ROSE_."

It took a moment for her realization to settle in. "Are you guys serious?" she turned back to them, unsure if this was real or not. She couldn't believe it. She had never heard of friends just giving houses.

"This is the property I had once told you about," Sonic chipped in. Amy then remembered that Sonic did once mention owning an empty home.

_"You know I do own property," Sonic recalled. He tapped his chin with his index finger as he thought back. "It's not much though. I own only an acre. It has a house, a small house, off to the side. Meant for only a person or two. I never used it though. It's empty. The only furnishing in it are a king sized mattress and an empty dresser."_

"We all moved some things into it and repainted a couple of rooms," Vector mentioned, looking down at his stained hands. He had gone past the house to see Cream working on it. The crocodile insisted on helping. He later then had Charmy and Espio help as well. The house was better furnished and painted in half the time expected.

Amy was still stunned with wide eyes. "I don't think a 'thank you' is good enough," Amy whispered. Only Tails and Cream were able to understand what she said.

Cream brought her hand up to her friend's shoulder. "You staying with us is more than 'good enough'," the rabbit said back with hopeful eyes.

"Of course I'm staying," she grinned at her friend. Amy grabbed Cream's hand and rushed up to the front door. The door was towards the right side of the building. It was already unlocked, making it easy to step into the white and light blue home.

Both Amy and Cream took in their surroundings. Up against the right wall was a staircase that disappeared into the ceiling. She stepped onto the light grey, plush carpet. In the left corner of the room was a darker shaded sectional couch. A large, matching ottoman was placed in front of it. About 6 feet from the couch was a wide fireplace. Amy admired the stoning of it and how it matched the grey-blue walls.

Bifolded doors were pulled back to reveal the next room. Amy stepped onto the hard wooded floor that creaked under her feet. In the center of the room was a master table meant to seat six. She assumed the dining room was meant for when company was over.

Before Amy could further inspect the rooms, Cream grabbed her hand and attention. "I want you to see your new room!" The rabbit pulled Amy up the stairs with her. Both walked to the last door at the end of the small hallway.

Amy grinned at Cream before turning the doorknob. She opened up to the master bedroom. In the furthest wall there was a nook lined with windows. Amy sat upon the window seat and looked over the room. The low bed didn't have a foot board. A Lyon Mini Comforter was set up. It had a solid raspberry color with small white flowers vined together. The light wooded bed frame and dresser matched the carnation pink walls. Amy walked over to the nightstand. Two empty photo frames sat next to an alarm clock. She wondered what she would fill them with. Amy finally looked up to two Ps Maskros lights handing from the ceiling. A large one hung lower than a similar smaller one.

Amy smiled at Cream and brought the small girl into a hug. Tails, who had just walked through the doorway, joined them. Soon Team Chaotix came in as well and contributed to the. Sonic watched the friends from his spot as he leaned against the door frame. He smiled upon them but didn't bother to join.

Everyone filed out of the room, passing by the blue hedgehog. Amy came out last and stopped next to him. Both stood alone in the narrow hallway.

"Thank you," Amy said after a moment of comfortable silence. Sonic shrugged, not really expecting any praise. "I didn't really do that much work," he admitted. "I just provided the setting and kept you busy so you wouldn't accidentally see anything."

Amy still continued to smile. She ignored that he brushed off her gratitude and tried again. Amy lightly grasped his upper arm. "Still," her quiet voice urged, "thanks."

Sonic decided not to fight it and cave. He turned his mouth into a soft smile, "You're welcome."

As both of them walked down the stairs, Amy leading the way, Sonic made it the right time to tell Amy her catch. "There is one rule," he declared. "Oh? And what is that?" she asked with interest.

She stopped at the bottom stair and looked over her shoulder at him. Sonic grinned at her. "When Tails isn't home, your couch," he jumped over the railing and plopped down on the sofa, "is mine."

Amy rolled her eyes, knowing that Sonic had the habit of invading people's homes. The girl knew that at one point she would become partly responsible for him. Amy bite her bottom lip as she thought over it. "I think I can make that work."

She gave a relieved sigh as her eyes wondered over her knew home once more. She knew that she was going to be here for a while. Maybe this could be her permanent house. She wouldn't mind that because here... she wasn't alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Done! 3 a.m. and I am done! I really pushed to get this chapter out. It's like giving birth to writing. Here, I present you my child! Chapter Fourteen.<strong>


	16. Ten Thousand Words

**HEEEEYYYY! I am back and ready to write once more. It has been so long!**

**I would also like to thank the commenters for your support and those who have followed my story! I am also happy for all the views I have gotten! **

**To CartoonGurl201m: Of course I couldn't make her leave! I love Amy! But I had to have some sort of conflict to deal with the fact that summer doesn't last forever so Amy couldn't always rely on a summer job. I also wanted something that would show relationship bonds!**

**I have come to really appreciate this chapter and it's title. Anyways, enough of me...**

**Chapter: Ten Thousand Words**

* * *

><p>Amy and Cream laid side by side with the backs of their heads resting on plush pillows. The two spent the day hanging out in the home of the one and only Amy Rose. Not much had happened since last week when the pink hedgehog was given her surprise home.<p>

Amy chewed on the inside of her cheek. She had been examining the empty photo frame for the last hour. The girl never had memories captured in the still pictures. She didn't carry around a special box with stacks of footage filled with friends and family. The girl didn't even own a camera.

She didn't capture fleeting moments of her life. Nothing has been memorable up until now. She was used to being independent and on her own. Whether or not if she got lonely wasn't a factor of why she had barely any friends. The only kind of people she knew were the school acquaintances. None she would be comfortable with inviting home to sleep at her apartment every night. There was no one she could gossip about with over how cute (insert popular jock name here) was.

But now she felt as if a family for her did exist. Her blood relatives, she could safely admit, will never be a piece of her life. She will never know if she has a little sibling or if her parents are happily together. Blood was just blood to her. She could never love the people that had abandoned her, and she doesn't need to.

Amy knows now that the small rabbit next to her is more of a sister than anyone could ever be. She has a family here. There aren't any fatherly figures that she knows of, but that isn't important. Titles have come to mean nothing to her. As long as she loves them all: that is all she needs.

Amy suddenly sat up and looked down at Cream, who had been playing with the tips of her fingers. "Hey Cream?" she caught the younger one's attention. The rabbit tilted her head slightly to the side. "Do you have a camera?" Cream silently nodded a "yes."

Amy grinned with satisfaction over bliss.

* * *

><p>Tails couldn't help but squirm in his seat. He twiddled his thumbs while keeping his gaze locked on his lap. If there is one person that could always make him feel uneasy, it would be Shadow the Hedgehog.<p>

The fox was well aware that his best friend, Sonic, was associated with the dark hedgehog. He wasn't completely sure how often Sonic saw the other hedgehog, but for Tails, it had been months since he has last seen the older male. There was always this intimidating vibe emitting in his direction from Shadow.

For some reason Sonic had insisted on stopping by Shadow's house. Tails had been left in the dark to the information Sonic was trying to receive on Eggman. He was taken off guard to discover that Sonic wanted to do research on his own. The fox wasn't bothered by the idea that Sonic kept things in private with Shadow over him. He had to be reasonable and realize that if anyone was better at collecting information on the villain, it would be Shadow.

Sonic had a bored expression as he rummaged through the same files over and over again. "It's official," he declared from his seat at the wooden table, "I cannot read any of this." He squinted his eyes and turned the picture upside down. "I don't get this picture either."

"Um Sonic," Tails spoke up for the first time since he had entered Shadow's house, "I believe that is written in human. Although they speak like us, their writing is different." There was a pause. He felt pressured as soon as he realized Shadow's red eyes were bothering to look at him. "More specifically, English," Tails included as an after thought.

Shadow turned his line of vision to the floor and sighed. "Your intelligent friend is right," he grumbled. "Of course you can't read English, but maybe the fox will be willing to translate it for you." Shadow gestured to the young boy who seemed to be shivering.

Sonic remained oblivious to the discomfort in Tails and waiting for him to start reading. Getting the hint, he cleared his throat and spoke as smoothly as he could. "O-oh, okay. '_Through these past few weeks I am growing anxious for my next project. I will show all those mutts that I do have power with the command of a single word! But of course I must finish my calculations. Finishing assembling the prototype will take time and working with those idiot-bots won't be much help. Not to mention that blue rat, Sonic, getting in my way. It is clear that before another four seasons pass I will need to get rid of him. But for the time I find it logical to back out of the ring and let them handle their daily lives. They wont suspect a thing!'_"

Tails shuffled around the papers that he identified as more journal entries. The "picture" that confused Sonic was actually an incomplete blue print. The sketching was too faded for the fox to find the equations eligible. He squinted at the work before apologetically looking up at Sonic.

"I am not a rat!" the hedgehog huffed from his seat. Tails quietly laughed, not being able to think of words. He wasn't surprised that Sonic would rather pay attention to silly little details over the big picture.

Shadow ignored Sonic and reached his hand over the table. Tails jumped when he noticed it hover close to him. He was quick to hand in the papers to the hedgehog that for some reason made him nervous.

Shadow glanced through the work before tucking it away on the bookshelf behind him. He was displeased that he had to admit he was not sure of what Eggman was up to. It was a while ago that he was able to determine the man's thoughts by just glancing at him but now he was no longer devoted to him or anyone else.

"The lab was also empty of any people or active Eggbots," Shadow remembered. When he had gone to find any other work yesterday, the whole place was vacant with out a message left behind. Not a lot of work related papers were carelessly scattered about. It was quite hard and time consuming to find the scraps of paper in the big building.

"Eggman also mentioned four seasons," Tails referred to the note entries, "so he could be gone for a whole year. And it has been a while since we've seen him already."

Sonic stood up and stretched his hands above his head. To the other two, it would have seemed like he wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. In reality he was thinking more to himself than them. He wouldn't forget how at the beginning of summer Eggman seemed more violent with his plans. Maybe what ever was going on with the villain really was serious to him.

"Well Shady," Sonic announced, looking down at the hedgehog who seemed rather annoyed with the nickname, "what should we do in the mean time until Eggbrain pops up? I really don't feel like going on a scavenger hunt for him." Although really fast, Sonic knew it would take way too long to find one man who could be anywhere on the planet. The blue hedgehog knew more than anyone else that he, himself, had a limit.

Shadow, who still held a hint of a glare, turned his emerald over in his right hand. It had somehow became a thinking strategy to play with the chaotic jewel. "I suggest," he spoke slowly, it was obvious that he was thinking up on the spot, "we wait until his return. Yes, wait for Doctor Eggman to actually make a move with what device he has come up with now. Then if you attack, it will actually destroy something instead of just delaying him."

Sonic wouldn't deny the idea. Even though he would rather get it over with, Shadow did had a point. Acting now would only set Eggman's plans a few weeks behind. He grinned, "I'm okay with that. It'll give me a vacation away from him." Sonic tapped on the back of Tails' chair. "Come on, Tails, we're done here."

The fox was grateful to leave. He mumbled a good bye before standing up and quickly walking out of the house. Sonic wasn't as hurried and strolled behind him. "Later Shads," he called over his shoulder with a mock salute. Sonic ducked behind the door just in time to miss a blunt object being launched at him.

* * *

><p>Amy grinned as she pressed the on button to the digital camera. She felt as if she was from a different time when it came to technology. Not possessing a great amount of electronics made her uniformed on how to use objects such as so.<p>

The small screen flashed to life. She could see how through the camera lens it capture and copied what ever was recorded by it. "Just press that button at the top to take a picture," Cream instructed.

Amy turned the camera around so that it faced her and Cream. Both girls smiled brightly for the picture. Amy couldn't help but giggle when she saw that she only captured their foreheads. "It'll take some practice," Cream laughed.

Amy led the girl outside and began down the path. She stopped two times on their walk; one to take a picture of the chao garden, and another of a cloud that looked a lot like a bear holding a pineapple. After a quick few minutes, they were in an all too familiar diner.

This place had slowly became a sanctuary to Amy, and she was sure some of her other friends felt the same way. It seemed like everyday they all had somehow managed to meet up here. Amy also knew she would be here even more after starting her job, she just hoped that she wont become tired of the place.

At one booth, the one she usually sat at, Sonic, Tails, and Team Chaotix occupied. Cream lightly skipped her way over to take a seat next to Tails. Amy smiled at the young girl's back. She had noticed that the two seemed to have something going on. It was so innocent in her eyes to watch the youngest ones, disincluding Charmy, share s small romance.

Before Amy could move to join everyone else, she saw another familiar person in the corner of her eye. Sitting on the opposite side of the room was Cryssi, who was all alone with papers laid out in front of her. Amy furrowed her eyebrows at the girl. It had not gone unnoticed by anyone that the dog had been distant to them.

When she had first met Cryssi, she had seen someone who looked so loving and a friend to all. Soon afterwards that person seemed to be erased and rewritten. Now what she saw was someone who didn't want to be anywhere near the friends she had. Cryssi hadn't actually hung out with them at all after Rouge had called out on the dog always being busy. Amy didn't think that the girl could be that upset after a comment as such.

With a disappointed sigh, Amy walked up to the table with a party of one. She mentally noted how the dog went from vigorously writing on the papers to trying to cover her work with her arms. Amy resisted the urge to narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"Hey, Cryssi," she greeted the girl with a wide smile. Cryssi blankly stared at her for a split second before mirroring her enthusiasm. "Oh- uh- hi, Amy," she replied rather awkwardly. It was the reply of someone who no longer seemed out going.

"So what are you doing?" Amy attempted first to strike up a conversation. She let her gaze roam over the papers that stuck out from underneath Cryssi. She tried to catch glimpses of the writing but found it hard to focus on.

Cryssi looked down at her hidden work before locking eyes with Amy. Her nervous expression was unnoticed by the clueless hedgehog. "Just going over some things," she vaguely replied.

She then looked over Amy's shoulder. The pink hedgehog noticed her eyesight change and also turned around. She could see a blue hedgehog approaching their table.

"Hey, Cryssi," Sonic stopped next to Amy and also looked down at the dog. He raised one hand and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know that you were here." The dog didn't answer other than a slight nod of her head. Silence draped over the three.

Amy and Sonic exchanged glances. He could tell that his dear friend was questioning something. It most likely had to do with Cryssi. Sonic, although he acted as if he didn't, knew something was strange. Only Rouge would openly talk about it. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for her loud mouth trying to get rid of the elephant in the room.

A loud crash from across the room made all three of them jump. Cryssi retracted her arms and stood up to get a better view. Sonic and Amy sweat dropped as they could see their friends causing a mess with smiled drinks. Both lightly chuckled in an embarrassed manner.

Amy looked back at the table to see the papers now unguarded. With the camera in her hands she slyly aimed and captured them. A flash went off as, capturing the other's attention. Cryssi gave her an accusing look before sitting back down with the papers held close to her chest.

"Whoops," Amy faked being sorry, "my finger slipped." That didn't stop the dog from glaring at her. "Well I better get going," Amy quickly wrapped up before walking as fast as she could over to Cream. Sonic was quick behind her as well.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" he murmured into her ear. Both of them looked over their shoulders to find the table empty and Cryssi absent. "You tell me," Amy responded before innocently holding up her camera to take another photo of whatever she could.

"Smile," she suddenly said before capturing a surprised picture of him. The girl giggled when looking upon a photo of him with wide eyes. His lips were slightly parted as if he was about to talk. "I still look good," he mustered without even glancing at the photo. Amy sarcastically hummed an agreement.

"Whats with the camera?" Charmy asked while picking it out of Amy's hand. He held it sideways as someone who had never seen such technology before would. Amy leaned over the table and snatched it back. She pointedly took a picture of him.

"My house is too empty," Amy said with a shrug, "so I'm filling it up with photos."

"You should at least be taking good photos," Sonic scoffed at her. He plucked the camera out of her hands and lazily hung his arms over her shoulders. Amy's face felt warmer as her cheeks instantly flushed. Her throat was heating up: she felt like she was wearing a turtleneck.

Sonic was oblivious to her being flustered at all. He held the camera high above his head to get the best view of everyone at the table. Cream smiled sweetly in the back ground. Tails made a waving gesture and smiled into the camera. The entire Team Chaotix gave a thumbs. Amy weakly smiled in comparison to Sonic's big grin.

And then it was over.

Everyone resumed to their casual positions and chattered with one another. It had stuck Amy in the back of her mind that Sonic's arm was still around her for a few more seconds after he handed back the camera. When he finally moved she felt a breeze brush over her back, sending goosebumps rising on her legs. The pink hedgehog pushed down any weird feelings.

She had taken "action" shots. After turning off the flash, she was able to capture her friends without disturbing them. She had gotten a couple of Cream and Tails talking to one another. One was of Charmy laughing at Vector, who had strawberry milkshake dripping down his head. Espio could be seen in the corner, pinching the bridge of his nose. Even though the image was still, you could easily imagine him shaking his head in disapproval.

By the evening, she had printed out and kept a selected amount of photos. She walked alongside Sonic while Tails and Cream trailed behind them. Sonic was currently shuffling through the pictures Amy saved. He slowly nodded his head in accepting the pictures taken.

"You know," Amy enunciated thoughtfully, "they say a picture is worth a thousand words." She looked down at the current photo Sonic was examining. If it could speak, it would talk about how much Vector doesn't appreciate Charmy's pranks.

Sonic held out the stack of pictures to Amy. "Well here are ten thousand words for ya," Sonic cheekily grinned at her. Amy held tightly to the memories as she smiled back.

The guys and the girls eventually split. Cream and Amy went back to the pink hedgehog's house for a sleep over. They spent some time deciding which pictures will go where. Most of the photos remained downstairs. There was one photo that Amy knew was special enough to be in the frame right next to her bed.

She laid awake for some time watching it. At first it was supposed to be just one glance. One simple gaze before she would go to sleep like Cream already had. But she couldn't.

Her face heated up as she looked over Sonic with his arm around her. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but it had felt nice. She enjoyed the short time of feeling his warmth. After hanging out with him so much, she felt closer to him, but they never actually had physical contact other than when Sonic carried her while he ran.

The girl forced her eyes shut and buried her head under her blankets. Amy didn't like what ever was going on in her brain. This was so different to her. She couldn't sleep with all of this weirdness going on in her head.

Not being able to sleep, Amy threw off the covers. She leaned over the small rabbit and gently shook the girl. "Cream," Amy whispered desperately, "please wake up." Slowly, the younger girl turned over and yawned. Cream blinked a few times at Amy with a confused expression.

Amy's eyes were round with dark circles around them. Her ears hung lowly on the sides of her head. "I have a problem," she whimpered. There was a pause. Amy was almost certain Cream was already falling asleep. "I think I'm starting to like Sonic a _little_ bit more than a friend."

Cream was now wide awake.

* * *

><p><strong>As a writer, I don't feel like I should explain the future of what is to come in my story until it is actually read BUT I just want to clarify something...<strong>

**Sonic and Amy will not be getting together any time soon. It is too early for something like that. Sonic isn't in love and neither is Amy. The only thing is that Amy is beginning to have a small crush. The kind of crush where you aren't even certain if you actually like this person or not as more than a friend. So don't expect the next chapter to have people making out. But Amy wouldn't be Amy if she didn't have stronger emotions than Sonic, right?**


	17. Tipsy Randevu

**Whoop! Wow, another chapter is up! Andthankyouohmygoshfortheohsokindreviews! Really! I appreciate all of them!**

**Sorry that it has been a couple of months. I don't know why but I just didn't really get excited about this chapter until about halfway through.**

**I would like to warn you guys of only a couple drops of inappropriate words. I try to avoid the overuse of cursing but for certain character developments I feel that it was necessary. But for this reason the story rating has changed to T. I hope this doesn't throw anyone off. But it will not rise to M at any time.**

**Chapter: Tipsy Randevu **

* * *

><p>Cream turned on the lights in the bedroom. She now sat up straight with her legs crossed. The girl had been staring at Amy for the past five minutes. "Okay," Cream carefully spoke, "what do you mean when you say you like Sonic?"<p>

Amy internally winced at how Cream said it out loud. She looked around the room as if someone would have heard. "I don't know," she sigh exasperatedly. "I think I like him like how you like Tails."

Cream noticeably blushed at the comment. "What? I-I don't-uh," Cream stammered, shaking her head. Amy's expression clearly showed that she wasn't believing what the little girl was saying. "Right," she sarcastically agreed. "You couldn't have been anymore obvious Missy," she shook her head at Cream.

Cream folded her arms a pouted. "We are talking about you," she pointed at Amy, "not me." The hedgehog rolled her eyes at the girl. "So when did you realize you liked him?"

Amy chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Just now," she mumbled.

Cream furrowed her eyebrows, "Maybe you should wait until morning and see if you still think the same way. We can even visit Sonic and Tails to test this."

"'Test this'?"

"You know, see if sparks fly. Does your heart leap when you see him? Do you find it adorable when he talks about mechanics?"

"Are you sure this is about Sonic? He doesn't talk about mechanics like a certain fox I know..."

Cream huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Amy laughed at her reaction.

She wasn't oblivious when it came to romance. Amy fully knew of the young love going on between the two kids. She could remember her first crush back when she was a small girl with spiky hair and a green tutu. But she just hoped that what ever goes on between Cream and Tails is proven worth it.

"Fine," Amy agreed with a defeated sigh. It is possible she is just over thinking things.

Cream nodded and went to turn off the lights. "Since we had this talk now, which really could have waited until morning, I am going to be sleeping in," Cream concluded and snuggled up to her pillow under the bed comforter.

It took a while but Amy eventually drifted off to sleep. It was one of those blank moments, where she wouldn't remember her dream. She'll wake up to the noon light, wondering when the exact moment she had fallen asleep was.

* * *

><p>Sonic absentmindedly twirled a spoon over the table top. His cheek was pushed into the knuckles on his fist. Tails was aware of this strange mood as he prepared lunch in his kitchen. He had already asked multiple times what was up with him. Sonic just shrugged him off and muttered, "Nothing."<p>

Although he was thinking very much so. Yesterday, after walking the girls home, Sonic found the camera Amy was using to take her beloved photos. He kept it and figured he would give it back to her later. Curiously, he went through it while crashing down on Tails's couch. He had come across a picture of a shocked Cryssi and several papers laid out. He could tell that the aim was meant for the work but was a little off. He tried his best to read the papers but to his disappointment it wouldn't become clear.

The hedgehog wasn't sure why, but this had bothered him greatly. It was just a pointless picture, right? Yet he couldn't convince himself. He didn't want to become suspicious of Cryssi. She was a friend of his that he had managed to not screw up with. He didn't want to talk negatively about the dog even though Amy had questioned him multiple times on why she had such an attitude suddenly. Sonic also didn't know the answer.

The girl was slowly becoming unrecognizable in her personality. She seemed so alone, but it was as if she suddenly chose to be that way. Rouge spoke foully of the girl. She didn't seem to care of the reason as of why Cryssi became distanced and grumpy. Cream, having been best friends with Cryssi before Amy had arrived, didn't say anything about it. Sonic thought that the girl was just pretending not to notice that she had lost a friend.

Maybe it would be a good thing to visit her. She couldn't avoid him forever. No one can hide from Sonic the hedgehog. He grinned to himself, making Tails look upon his with interest. The fox always wished he could know what goes on in the head of Sonic's.

He stood up, causing the spoon to fall over with a clatter. "I'll be back, Tails," he announced as he strolled to the nearest door. Tails mumbled something, signaling that he had acknowledged it. He could only stare after the blue hedgehog.

Sonic was too rushed that he hadn't noticed the two people standing right in front of the door, causing him to bump right into them. "Geez," Amy muttered, "do you ever slow down?" Cream giggled behind her hand. "Aw, Amy," she nudged her, "play nice."

Amy narrowed her eyes at the girl next to her. "Are you trying to make it obvious?" she harshly whispered to her younger companion.

Sonic knew that he wasn't supposed to hear that, but his ears picked it up anyways. He only furrowed his eyebrows. "_Now they're acting weird too? I seriously need to get out of here before the female population ends up being the apocalypse._" Without a word he took off, leaving them in skirt blowing wind that trailed in his wake.

Amy and Cream shared a wondering glance between one another. They both just shrugged at one another. Cream headed in the house first. Amy trailed behind her, casting a slightly longing glace over her shoulder.

Sonic didn't feel entirely bad for leaving behind Amy and Cream without a proper hello. In his opinion, he has been spending so much time with them and he didn't want to risk getting tired of his closest female friends. Also he needed time alone to confront Cryssi.

Sonic had grown tired of her behavior. Although they weren't as close as he is with his other friends, he still wanted to make sure that she was okay. The small farm girl seemed to always be working on her father's field, or at least that's what she said. He wouldn't call her a liar, but he didn't actually believe that. Usually they would go and help then during the busy season.

Sonic made his way to the large farm house. The entire building was made of brick with blue shutters around the windows. Before he made it through the front door, Sonic had to stop and over look the unusual field. He noticed almost right away that all the planets looked ill; as if someone was not tending to them regularly.

Sonic went up and knocked on the door. He waited a few minutes before creating a repetitive tapping rhythm on the wood. He knew that whenever he had used to do this Cryssi would answer the door really annoyed or her father would come with a very tired look.

Sonic chuckled to himself on the thoughts of their reactions. He stopped knocking and let his smile fade away. He knew no one was going to answer. Which was very unusual. Most of the time one of the family members would be occupying the household, but now it felt completely empty.

Sonic shook his head to himself and sighed in disappointment. He turned around and left with a feeling of disappointment.

What he didn't know was that a certain girl was pressed up against the other side of the door, holding her breath.

* * *

><p>"What's up with Sonic?" Amy quirked. She swung her feet back and forth as she sat on the edge of the kitchen table, next to an abandoned plate of food.<p>

"You know Sonic," Cream sighed as she set herself some leftover breakfast at the table, "he is always in a hurry."

"He didn't even say 'hi'," Amy grumbled, keeping her gaze locked on the ground. She still felt annoyed by Cream's light teasing and Sonic's rude behavior. The young rabbit just giggled in response.

Although Tails had wanted to smile at the very expressive girl, he couldn't bring himself to do so. He continued to let the thoughts of Sonic bother him. It wasn't like his friend to be so absent minded. Oblivious, yes, but not absent minded. "Something is off about him today," he confirmed.

"What would be wrong with him?" Cream questioned seeming truly intrigued with her older friend. The very caring pre-teen wouldn't wish for anything bad to happen to her friends. The thought of it could bring tears to her eyes.

"Don't worry Cream," Amy soothed as she hopped off the table. "He will be _fine_. How much you want to bet that he will come through that door any second now?" Amy blindly pointed her index finger in the direction she assumed had the door.

"Wow, you're really good at that," Tails said with great fascination.

Amy didn't understand what he had meant by that. She turned her head and jumped when seeing Sonic standing no more than two inches away from her pointing hand.

"When did you get here?" her squeaky voice questioned as she recoiled her hand. Sonic just shrugged and leaned against the wall. Amy rolled her eyes when she received no absolute answer. Typical...

"Where did you run off to in such a hurry?" Amy interrogated. She placed both of her hands on her hips and gave him a look, hoping that he would get the message that she found him very rude.

"Is it such a crime to want to run?" Sonic made the most innocent tone he could manage as he sat down to finish his abandoned breakfast.

"I don't know," Amy narrowed her eyes, "depends on what you're running from." At this moment Sonic began to cough. The feeling of food in his throat was numb and uncomfortable. He pounded his fist on his own chest.

"How about let's do something today other than standing around," Cream suggested as Sonic recovered.

It wasn't a bad idea. It was starting to become the dull days. That short time where it was too early for the leaves of fall to burn red before drifting to the ground but the summer temperatures were already beginning to drop.

"You know Rouge invited me to her birthday party," Amy brought up. She wasn't sure if it was even her actual birthday, but either way the bat was having a party this evening. Amy thought back to the invitation. "It said that she was inviting the whole town," Amy exclaimed as an afterthought. It seems like she was trying to make this party big.

"Oh wow," Sonic faked sounding amazed, "that must be an _entire _60 people! In case if you forgot Amy, this place has less people than the amount you would find in a castle."

"It's still a bigger party than I've ever been to," Amy admitted. She hasn't been to much social events in her old life. Most of the "parties" she went to were social gatherings for lame clubs. She wasn't even able to make it to any homecomings or her senior prom.

Amy wouldn't want to admit it, but she really wanted to go to this party.

"I'll go," Tails idly spoke up from his spot. He had nothing better to do. Nothing could come to his mind. Tails could pretend to fix everything up. Nothing needed to be fixed. The X-Tornado was in the most perfect and up to date shape it could ever be in.

"I'll go too!" Cream said almost instantly after Tails. Amy inwardly smirked at her. "But I can't stay too late," the rabbit included. Everyone could understand why. Vanilla didn't see Rouge as the best influence. Although Cream was capable of understand right from wrong, she still needed to make sure not to let rouge have a negative effect on her.

"It's settled then," Amy clapped her hands together.

* * *

><p>Even though Sonic continued to look unimpressed, the party was neat. Upon their entry together, a wave of warmth from the crowd washed over them. The part was inside a house at the edge of town. Unsurprisingly, it was large and widely opened. The house wasn't decorated other than the lights hung around. Multiple colors drifted over the bodies that swarmed through the rooms on the bottom floor. Even though is is a small town, Amy realized that she hasn't seen half of these people. She thought she had met everyone, but she was wrong.<p>

"Do you know all of these people?" she leaned towards Cream, trying her best to keep a low voice while the rabbit could still hear her. Surprisingly, Cream nodded her head. Amy was speechless when the young girl proceeded to name off every person that passed them.

"You've been here for almost 4 months," Sonic noted,"you'll eventually know these people more than you know yourself."

He parted away from them with Tails behind. Amy chuckled when she noticed he went in the direction of the dining room where large bowls of chips and other assortments were set out.

Amy took Cream straight through the house and to the backyard where they could breathe a little more. "Wow, Rouge surely knows how to throw a party." Amy glanced around the patio. Soft lights hung off the frame of the house. Elegant outdoor furniture were spread out with low tables sitting still. "Speaking of Rouge, where is she?"

Cream pointed ahead to a white bat snuggling close to a red echidna. "I believe that is her."

Amy quinted her eyes at them. Rouge ditched her usual wear for a small black dress with spaghetti straps and matching stilettos. Knuckles was much more casual than his partner. "Wait, are they dating?!" Her green eyes were suddenly large as she observed the way Knuckles' arm was draped across the back of the couch behind Rouge. She also observed how a more delicate hand (although she fully knew it could knock someone out) rested on the male's knee.

"It looks like they are," Cream clarified, "although I'm pretty sure that we all saw this coming." Amy and Cream shared a look between one another before giggling.

"Come on," Amy discreetly walked around the terrace while dragging Cream behind her, "let's bother them." She ducked right behind the couple, dragging Cream down with her.

"Maybe they want their privacy," Cream whispered.

"Nonsense."

Amy popped her head between the other two. A sly grin spread across her face. "Well don't you two look cozy." Both jumped at the familiar voice. They sprang apart and looked down at the girl with shocked expressions. Amy just responded with a laid back look as she rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. Cream huddled behind the pink hedgehog, hiding her snickers.

"Thanks, Amy," Rouge sarcastically commented. Amy responded with a salute. Rouge waved off Knuckles, who stared blankly at her. "Girl time," the bat explained. Knuckles grudgingly got up and went inside, getting lost in the crowd.

Amy hopped over the back of the couch. She landed softly next to Rouge. Cream politely walked around and settled on the other side.

"So when did this happen?" Amy bounced and squealed slightly. Some might think that the hedgehog was more excited about this relationship over the actual participants in it.

Rouge seemed to deeply think of the first time Knuckles officially made a move on her. "Oh, just for about a week."

"You've been dating for a whole week and you didn't tell me?" Amy defensively crossed her arms.

Rouge's lips quirked at the edges. "Well I _have_ been busy."

Cream's cheeks heated up as she tried not to think too deeply on what Rouge was saying. Amy blushed slightly but laughed at the innocence Cream presented. She could never imagine a world without Cream being a shy sweetheart.

Rouge scooted between the two girls and wrapped her arm around Cream. "Don't worry, Honey. I didn't do anything bad." Cream's face was still tinted pink. "I do have my priorities," Rouge confirmed.

"I love our girl talks," Rouge cleared the air. "We don't have enough of these! What's been going on with you guys?"

"Cream has been going on dates with Tails." Cream's fur lite up by Christmas lights. Her face was red all over. The rabbit made a small attempt to deny anything."What? Uh- no. I- I mean we are just friends." She nervously laughed while playing with her fingers. The rabbit's thoughts carried away to all the times she has been with the familiar fox. Her blush deepened even more.

Amy hid her giggle behind her hand. Rouge pulled Cream into a bone crushing hug. The girl groaned when her face was suffocating in the bat's chest. "Aw!' Rouge exclaimed, "My little girl is growing up!"

"I can't breathe!" Cream's voice muffledly cried. Rouge loosened her hold on the teenager. "Let's not talk about me!" Cream nervously laughed. "What about Amy?"

Amy sent a glare over Rouge's shoulders. Of everyone who could have kept their mouth shut Cream was speaking up. The pink hedgehog feared that this was karma.

"There's another guy?!" Rouge turned her head towards Amy, who looked at the floor. "There's not even one guy," she muttered. Amy knew that there may be someone for her. Someone who likes to run. Someone blue with green eyes. The pink girl shook her head.

"Don't lie to me missy," Rouge lectured. She frowned at the young adult. "Stop being childish and tell ol' Rouge what you're going on about."

Amy thought of the pros and cons of telling the bat on her possible crush. Pro: she could get more expert advice on how to approach this situation. Con: Rouge might spill to the wrong people on Amy's feelings. She tried to see the lighter side and told Rouge.

"It's Sonic?" The eager presented from Rouge disappeared. "Why Sonic? Of every single _freaking_ person on this planet you had to choose him?" There was a deeper meaning to her questions.

Amy and Cream exchanged glances. The pink hedgehog hoped that Cream knew why Rouge reacted as so, but the rabbit's innocent eyes revealed that she had no clue either. Rouge didn't hate Sonic, Amy knew that couldn't be why.

"You don't know?" Rouge eyes widened slightly when it dawned on her that a bit of gossip hadn't spread that far. Amy and Cream never knew a small piece of information.

She sighed, seeming greatly tired compared to her mood a minute ago. "It happened a few months ago. You know, before Cryssi started acting weird. Sonic was her best friend, other than Cream that is, before you came along." Amy flinched slightly at the name of Cryssi. LAtely no one has talked to her and it worried the girl very much. The hedgehog already was solving a puzzle to see how she fit into already was a hunch growing in her brain.

"She apparently had feelings for him that everyone looked over. Although I was able to always see how she treated him a little more special than the rest of us, I never said anything about it to her. But after you came, she kind of saw you as a threat. I can't really blame her. If I ever liked Sonic, which won't even happen after hell freezes over, I would feel the same way." Rouge tilted her head and looked Amy up and down.

The pink girl seemed slightly offended, not fully understanding the meaning of Rouge's words. "It's not bad," Rouge clarified, "it's just- well what would you expect? A pretty and pink _hedgehog_ comes to town. You almost instantly jumped into all of our lives. Soon you started talking to Sonic. Scared that you'll steal him away from her, Cryssi confessed that she was head over heels in love with him." Rouge looked down at her lap and folded her fingers together. This was a completely different side of the bat that the two were seeing. No longer did she hold a sassy attitude. Her eyebrows arched slightly, making her eyes appear more solemn. "He rejected her."

Amy swallowed a gasp that threatened to escape her lips. Her mind crossed the possibilities of that happening to her. She feared what could possibly happen afterwards. For starters, she would be able to confirm that he is in fact not the one she was looking for, but instead a dull headed jerk. Maybe her thoughts were a little harsh but she would narrow down who exactly she was looking for. With her actions, there would be a consequence. She feared that Sonic would no longer want to see her ever again. It sounded unbearable.

"That's not all," Rouge included. "Afterwards, Cryssi came to me. She felt that I could kind of help her. But when she reached my house, she was different. She spoke harshly on Sonic. She practically spat his name. She made it sound like he ruined her, like he was a cruel person. She even mentioned you, Amy. She some how made it up in her mind that you and him were secretly having some sort of affair." Amy blushed at the idea of her and Sonic secretly running around together.

"But that isn't true at all!" Amy still remembered that Sonic made a horrible first impression on her. The two hedgehogs were barely friends for days and days around Cryssi.

Rouge slightly rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know that, but Cryssi didn't." Rouge recited in her head the memories of the events that had happened uncover over the summer. "I went to confront Sonic an hour after talking to her. I at the time thought that he was a jerk and believed Cryssi. Not necessarily about you two have a secret relation, but about Sonic being a jerk. I mean it's not that hard to be convinced he had done something stupid."

Even though they were on a serious topic, Amy and Cream couldn't of helped giggling at Rouge. The bat did have a point. Sonic, who was capable of being sweet and caring, was an egotistical moron 70% of the time. Amy wondered how everyone actually loved his company, including herself.

"He was with Tails at the time, who apparently overheard how it all went down. Both confirmed that Cryssi had opened up to him. He explained to her how he wasn't looking for a relationship. He just didn't believe in true love. He actually said that. Cryssi didn't take it lightly. If I remember the exact quote, she said 'But you apparently believe in fucking pink whores.'"

Amy gasped, her eyes shooting wide opened. Cream almost cried when hearing that. "No," the small rabbit pleaded, "Cryssi would never say that! She was so nice to Amy. She was one of my best friends! She was a good girl! Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke."

"I'm sorry honey," Rouge sincerely said. It was also a shock that had hit her. Cryssi had always been so kind. The bat would never have guessed that a loyal dog buried all of her grudges down. Not comfortable with that settling silence, Rouge cleared her throat. "Sonic did defend you."

Amy was a little surprised by that statement. "He barely knew me at the time," she pondered out loud.

"That is true, but he still held respect for you. Cryssi got really upset after that. That was when she came to me to vent her frustrations. The next day I went back to Cryssi. She was the only one home, which was strange, but made it easier for her and I to talk privately. I confronted her on how she changed the true story. That's when I had seen her vicious side myself. She called me a traitor, claiming that I had turned over to you side. Cryssi probably still believes you are stealing everything from her. Her crush, her best friend, her spot in our lives."

"Am I really that horrible of a person?" Amy whispered, tears swelling in her eyes. Rouge softly shushed her and pulled the girl in for a soft hug. Amy rested her head easily onto Rouge's shoulder. Rouge rand her fingers through the thick quills in an attempt to calm her ragged breaths. Cream placed her thin hand on her dear friend's back.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You aren't the problem here. Cryssi is. She made wrong accusations and acted like a crazy person. I had never known she was so obsessed with this ideal world that revolved around her. I didn't turn over to any evil side. And you aren't stealing or replacing anyone. Cryssi is just jealous of you. But her and I got into a huge fight about what happened and now she is completely distancing herself away from us. I have no clue what she is doing or what her father's input on this is. I just didn't think she would throw a huge fit like this."

Amy pulled away from Rouge, feeling more relieved after logically thinking that it isn't her fault. Someone else ruined a friendship, and only they were to blame. "I don't get why she is acting as if none of that happened. I talked to her not long ago at the diner. She was acting weird but it wasn't necessarily in a hateful kind of way. Also, Sonic acted completely normal around her as well."

"The thing about Sonic, "Rouge realized a long time ago, "is that he likes to suppress the bad. It's obvious that's what he does. So he's been pretending that none of that happened. I decided that I would let these rumors spread on their own, although now that I think about it, I don't think anyone knows other than the people I have mentioned in the story. "Rouge facepalmed when she thought of it being so obvious. "Of course! The whole time I knew that Cryssi wasn't actually always running off to help her father, I just figured everyone else also knew. That why I never actually called out on her publicly, I only talked about her always working. Sonic wouldn't want you to know either, so that's why he hasn't said anything. He cares about you and wouldn't want you to think horrible things about yourself."

"So Amy shouldn't act on her feelings for Sonic? "Cream questioned. Rouge confirmed it. "I don't believe that you'll go psycho like a certain someone, but there are still problems. My point of the story is that Sonic is crazy dense at times, and I don't want you to get hung up over him. He doesn't believe in love."

Amy's mouth was gaped at the crazy idea. No love? It exists everywhere! Everyday people fall in love. It's so natural. "I guess it's for the best," Amy sighed, "even if his ideas are a little overboard." Amy was more relieved than sad. Now she knew that she shouldn't try any romantic skit with Sonic. She wouldn't want to result in a broken relationship.

"I'm sorry, Amy." Rouge sympathetically put her hand on Amy's shoulder. She gave her a soft smile. "It's okay," Amy lightly brushed it off with a smile, "I'm already over it."

"Over what?" Everyone turned their heads to the voice. A shy Tails stood there, feeling pressured from all the gazes resting on him. "None of your business," Rouge grinned. She was back to her normal self.

"Oh well I just came to say happy birthday before I leave," Tails looked down at his feet, feeling embarrassed for interrupting their conversation. "Oh you didn't have to, darling," Rouge flicked her hand in his direction, "my birthday isn't actually for another month. I just couldn't wait for the party so I decided to have one now."

"You're leaving already?" Cream, who seemed disappointed, questioned. "We just got here." Tails looked down at his watch. "Actually," he corrected her, "it's been about an hour, more or less."

Cream gasped at how quick time flew. She wasn't planning on staying long either. "Would you mind if I left with you?" she innocently questioned. Tails noticeably blushed and smiled. "I would enjoy your company."

Rouge elbowed Amy and gave her a knowing look. Both girls smirked at their friends, knowing what was up. "Bye Cream," Amy said in a singsong voice as she waved. Rouge lazily saluted at the two teens as they left.

"Well," Rouge stood up and glanced down at the girl behind her, "I need a drink and so do you." She strutted through the crowd before Amy could mention that she was not thirsty to begin with.

Amy dulled over her thoughts on the story Rouge told her. It amazed her how great of an actor some of her friends really were. She hadn't suspected that the only reason Cryssi was acting weird was because of a broken heart. Although that didn't explain the work she was doing at the diner the other day. Amy knew for a fact that whatever the dog was writing, had nothing to do with a romance novel.

Rouge returned after five minutes with two plastic cups. Amy looked down at the liquid in it. She swirled it lightly around, watching it splash up the edges. "Don't worry," Rouge smirked, "it's homemade punch."

Amy took a small sip. She smiled at the sweet taste. The punch was cooling to her burning throat. "Not bad," Amy hummed as she took a bigger gulp of her drink. "How did you make this?"

"Oh it took a _long _time," Rouge smirked as she, too, sipped on her beverage. Amy brushed off the suspicious feeling she had towards the girl.

* * *

><p>"So Rouge, huh?" Sonic gave knuckles a cheeky bump on the shoulder. The echidna glared at him. He bumped Sonic back harder. The blue hedgehog almost completely fell over before he caught himself on the edge of the food table. "Joking, Knuckles! I'm joking!"<p>

The blue hedgehog snickered at the displeased look of his friend. He found it easily amusing to get some people worked up. Knuckles was always hot headed and got frustrated at his tactics.

"How did you know about us anyways?" Knuckles casually plopped a chip into his mouth. He crunched on his thoughts of his new love. Countless times before they had argued and fought with one another. They debated when their friends were around and spat when they were alone. He had to admit he loved it. He got a certain special thrill between every dispute.

"Honestly," Sonic brought his hand up to his chin, "it was really obvious." Sonic, being slightly taller tilted his head at an downward angle. "I think you're good for her," Sonic firmly pat him on the back, "and vice versa."

At this time, the sun had already set two hours ago. The party had already swung and small amounts of people began to leave. Sonic noticed that most of the crowd stood in a large group in the backyard. Chuckles could be heard every ten minutes through the mellow air.

Both boys drifted to the edges of the mass. Sonic peered through swaying heads to see what the focus was on. His eyes narrowed when he recognized a certain someone lazily draped over a settee. He began to make his way through the middle.

"What is going on here?" his voice came out a little more as a demand than he had expected to. Sonic raised an eyebrow as he caught a familiar scene. Petite Amy looked as if she was going to fall over. Her cheeks were tinted crimson and her wide eyes were dilated to the point it was hard to see any green glisten in them.

An amused Rouge seemed to have no shame in slipping her friend an alcoholic drink... or a few. "Amy here was just telling us about her city life." Rouge gestured her hand to the inebriate girl.

Amy exaggeratedly rolled her eyes. "Don't even get me started on street fairs." Sonic furrowed his eyebrows at the way her words slurred and dragged out. He hadn't known Amy to be the type to drink enough to intoxication. He didn't know she drank at all.

"Okay Amy, playtime is over," Sonic wasn't aware that he spoke to her as if she was a child. The girl wasn't bothered by the tone in his voice but pouted when he said it was time to leave. She made no move to get up. Sonic sighed and removed the half full cup from her hands. He tossed the rest of the liquid onto the grass and set the empty cup down. Amy still made no move to walk when Sonic tried coaxing her to stand.

Everyone around, even Knuckles, laughed lightly at the way the two interacted with one another. Sonic frowned when he realized he was on his own with helping his friend.

Sonic picked up Amy, who was practically dead weight, and held her in his arms. She didn't hesitate to giggle and swing her legs back and forth. Sonic began to feel embarrassed and decided to bolt from the place with Amy in his arms.

* * *

><p>"Home sweet home," Sonic announced as he used one hand to unlock the front door with his special spare key. With a creak it slowly swung open. Shadows covered the house in darkness. All life seemed dead in the interior; only the sound of a grand clock ticking it's steady rhythm echoed.<p>

Sonic adjusted Amy in his arms so her knees laid over his left arm as her back was supported by his right. He kicked the door close with his heel and trudged up the stairs.

Amy looked through the living room as he carried her. She pursed her bottom lip, "Where did the party go?" Her voice, still slightly slurred, was now quiet. It made her sound like a child who had only learned to talk for barely a year.

"The party is gone," Sonic flatly said. He disliked the condition the girl was currently in. Her voice wasn't tender and she kept swinging her legs out to hit the walls. She wasn't herself in this state. It was as if the soul of a hyper kid stole Amy and took her body. It irritated the blue hedgehog.

"Okay Amy, let's just go to bed now." Sonic opened the door to her bedroom. Before he could carry her inside, the girl began to whine. "I don't feel like it." Amy kicked her legs out and pushed her feet up on the door frame. Sonic caught her by the elbows before she could fall.

"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath. As a child, Sonic had seen many adults become intoxicated as parties. He never had to personally deal with them. Usually his mother would coax him to bed before he could see anything too vulgar.

Sonic pulled Amy back so her feet fell limply onto the floor. He tossed her over his shoulder and quickly made his way into her room before she could protest. Sonic dropped her onto the plush bed sheets. She giggled as she bounced at the impact.

Sonic took her right leg and removed the boot from her foot. He then did the same thing to the left side. He lightly pulled down the hem of her dress when it started to ride up. He placed the soft blanket from the foot of the bed over her small body.

Sonic, who looked extremely tired for once, couldn't match Amy's eager mood. He rubbed his eyes as Amy had a conversation with herself about the "dream princess."

He walked around the bed and sat on the other side of it. In the mist of all her talk Sonic was about to doze off himself even though it wasn't even 11 O'clock yet. It was twenty minutes of waiting for Amy to fall asleep before she actually caught his attention.

"You know I'm seeing the 30% of you."

Sonic snapped his head away from the window. Now he could see that Amy had snuggled further under the blanket and laid facing him. Both of her hands formed a pillow for her head.

"I like this you."

Sonic was confused on what the girl was talking about. He didn't understand how he was different from now to his usual self. He wondered if Amy even registered what was going on at the moment.

"Well I don't like you like this," he calmly stated. He wasn't sure if she was truly offended when she began to pout but he realized Amy he did get the wrong message.

Sonic reached his hand out and slowly ran the back of it down her silky quills. "Just please go to sleep."

"Will you stay with me all night?"

"As long as you want me to."

"Promise?"

"I Promise."

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know if anyone understood the "30%" thing but its from earlier in this chapter.<strong>

**Don't worry my friends, I promise the next chapter will be out sooner than this took.**


	18. Thy Breath Be Rude

**I've decided to put the AN at the end. It's not crazy important; just talking about the reference of the title.**

**Chapter: Thy Breath Be Rude**

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><p>Stable clinks of cups hitting table and joyful talk was the only sound in the diner. A busy manager frantically twiddled with the wires of an old radio. No one else seemed to notice the lack of sound, but it meant all the difference for the owner of the local restaurant.<p>

"Do you mind helping her?" Amy asked Tails as she nodded her head to the old women. She grinned at the way the lady kept pushing her glasses up and tucking strands of hair behind her ears. Although she wore the same uniform as Amy, the raccoon were a size almost three times Amy. Every work day Amy had to suit up in a light blue, button-up dress. Around her waist was a white apron that tied into a large bow at her back.

"I'll be happy to help." Tails shuffled from the table over to the nearly sweating lady. Cream giggled at how professionally Tails seemed when fixing just a small, dusty radio.

"So Amy," Sonic leaned forward to settle his elbows on the table, "what are the chances of my getting some free food in here?" Although Sonic was as much himself as ever, Amy couldn't help but feel slightly different around him.

It had been a little over a month since she Rouges party. The party where she had discovered a darker side to Cryssi and where Rouge had lied to her about serving "punch." She had to admit that she was embarrassed about becoming intoxicated for the first time and made any witnesses swear not to tell Cream. The shame had hung over her when she saw Sonic sleeping in on her living room couch. Amy would feel even worse if the innocent rabbit discovered her best friend made herself a sloppy fool.

Amy quirked a sly grin at him. She placed both of her hands on her hips and looked down at him. "As I have said one hour ago and the day before: you cannot get free food. Pay like every other customer here you cheap-hog."

"I don't get it," Charmy looked up at Sonic, "how are you wealthy enough to afford about ten mansions, yet you decide to not spend two dollars on a milkshake."

Sonic directed his index finger at the little bee. "If it's made in a chilidog flavor I might consider it." Everyone around him scrunched their faces in disgust. Amy shook her head and tucked away her notepad and pencil. She returned back to the kitchen as a worker.

Everyone continued to talk amongst themselves. Quiet music began to play a few seconds before the return on Tails. The young fox almost fell off his chairs when Cream suddenly began to shake his looked over at her only to see her eyes focused on the large windows.

"It's snowing!" Cream pointed to the white flakes drifting to the ground. The first snow of the fall season had begun in the time of November. The clouds over the sky seemed to form the ice crystals out of thin air. Each speck let the wind carry it to the ground where it either melted into the concrete or slowly built up into a pile.

"I heard were supposed to have a really cold winter this year," Vector already began to shiver at just the idea of a blizzard.

Rouge disgustingly looked at the snow. Unlike the rabbit, she didn't care for the snow. Rouge leaned further into Knuckles, who let his arm rest over her shoulders. She let a smile stretch over her lips when she felt his warmth.

Cream giggled as Sonic noticeably turned his head away and pretended to gag at their affection. Tails chuckled slightly along with Team Chaotix. The couple glared at all of their laughing friends.

"If the snow does reach more than just a couple inches you wont be able to run any more, Sonic," Tails had his full attention. Sonic did enjoy the holiday season as much as anyone else. The biggest down side was when he had to trudge through the snow every day. Last time he tried to run fast through deep snow his foot got caught and he flew forward and ended up burying his face into the snow. His face was so cold to the point it began to burn.

Sonic shook his head, feeling disappointed. "I didn't know it was going to snow this early. Why can't winter wait until December?" If only the time would change. Sonic would stop time altogether. The idea of being forever young was not displeasing. He always tried to suppress the fact that he was growing on the edge of adulthood.

"But there's also so many fun things to do in the snow!" Cream's eyes were filled with adoration as she stared out at the falling flecks. Her eagerness rubbed off on her chao. Cheese made the same face as her: wide eyes with his paws clasped together.

The joys of snow came with cold days and blistering nights. Cream spent most of her days outside participating in snowball fights, which she would always be on the losing team, and building rows of snowmen with the help from her mother. At night while more blankets of snow fell she would sit under layers of blankets with hot chocolate. Cream inwardly smiled at the thought.

They all continued to talk about the crazy weather brought upon their town. No one had a weird hunch of being watched. Someone stood 600 feet away outside the window: just watching with no one suspecting a person spying.

The person, identified as a teenage girl, continued to watch them all. She envied the warm setting in front of her.

Feeling a chill, the girl pulled her coat in closer to her. The wind was bitted as it whipped at her face. She scowled at this weather. Why, of all places, did she have to end up here? The girl thought of a paradise island that she would never be able to encounter.

"_Do you really think it is appropriate to be here at this time?_"

The girl had almost forgotten that she had an earpiece in. Now the metal felt like it was swollen up in her ear. It had been too long since she could simply breathe without someone listening in and criticizing her. _  
><em>

Even though the static voice had asked her a question, she knew it was more of a command. "I'm sorry," she wasn't. The girl inhaled deeply. She eyed the happy group one more time. They all had an unbreakable bond with one another. She hated it more than anything.

"_Remember the last time you were there, Soith,_" he warned her. She remembered very well. The last time the girl was there everyone was suspicious of her. She thought of herself as strong, but just seeing the pink one made her terrified of something. Maybe it was the idea of being figured out. After then her leader demanded that she avoid contact with anyone at all.

"See them when they can't see me," she whispered to herself. She turned away and headed back to the dead farm where nothing waited for her. The frozen ground of dead grass crunched under her feet with every step.

The further away she got, the more lonely she felt with her rage. Just her and rage. Her adrenaline was bottled up and rushing to her fingertips. She fisted her fingers, digging them as hard as she could into the palms of her hands.

The girl started walking faster. She wanted to get as quickly home as possible. Now, what she called home was just a building. An empty home with no attachment to it.

While stepping through the doorway she could just imagine her younger self running through the house. She remembered how in the living room she would carry and stack boxes up. Then she would take every quilt in the house and drape them over the piles, creating the best fort her small mind could imagine.

Now looking in the living room, dust drifted through the air and became apparent through the slices of light. Thin bed spreads covered all of the old furniture that she no longer used.

It crossed her mind what her father might say about this. She knew that he wouldn't approve of the way she approached her life. She was always "daddy's little girl" growing up. She loved him and he had loved her. The girl shook her head at the thoughts of her small broken family.

Her rage just grew. With light steps she made her way over to an empty room. Ceiling and wall debris covered the floor in a white powder. This had once been her father's study room. Her father was no genius as he only worked on a farm his whole life. But he would sit at the desk for hours counting all the stocks and where each harvest will go for profits. Now it was just a place to take out her stress.

She reached down to grasp a firm sledgehammer. It took both of her arms to securely hold it in her grip. She grinned a joyless grin at it.

"_Here we go again,_" the voice sounded bored of her already, yet she didn't have a single care on his opinion of her free time.

She twisted her body to bring the hammer far behind her. With a grunt she swung it forward. The drywall broke upon the impact. A small hole in the wall was left in place of the hammer's target. She took a quick glance around the room to see that the other holes made were quite larger.

She struck the edges of the hole to make it larger. She swung the heavy instruments quicker and faster. Her clammy hands burned as she tightened her grip on it. You couldn't see it under her fur, but the skin of her knuckles turned white. Cold sweat collect on her forehead as she began to heat up around her neck.

"_Don't hurt yourself, Soith."_

She dropped the object at her side. The metal crashed with the ground, causing a ruckus so loud that small chaos outside flew away in fear. The girl herself did not flinch. Her chest heaved up and down at an unsteady pace. She whipped away the dampness on her face with the back of her hand.

The girl wickedly grinned. "I told you this, Doctor: call me Cryssi."

* * *

><p>Amy was little surprised by the end of her shift to see Sonic sitting on a booth. He was lazily leaning into the cushion with both of his hands tucked between his head. Amy wondered for a second it he was waiting for her. She would never admit that it made her feel completely flattered.<p>

The girl wondered if he noticed that they have been spending more and more time alone with one another lately. In all of those times, she tried to suppress any thought of affection towards him. As time went on it became harder to do so.

"Where did everyone go?" Amy approached Sonic. He tilted his head up, slightly surprised for a second.

"Chaotix had some sort of mission to do. Tails wanted to do research on a few things. Cream went home. Rouge and Knuckles snuck off to do Chaos knows what."

Amy giggled at the disturbed expression he bared. "Do relationships really gross you out?"

Sonic frowned for a moment. Creased lines formed in between his eyes. "No," he slowly said.

Amy forgot that Sonic didn't believe in love. She wanted to understand why but didn't question him on it. He was unaware of certain things she knew and she wanted to keep it that way.

"So what are you still doing here alone?" Amy changed the subject.

"Who said I was alone?" he gestured to the girl.

"I'm not staying," Amy already had her coat bundles up with a scarf around her neck. "I want to get home before it gets any colder."

Over the hours and after the dinner rush the weather still persisted on snowing. By now it was also becoming darker by the minute. Amy checked the clock to see that it was 7 O'clock in the evening.

"I'll go home then," Sonic stood up and walked with her to the door. "Besides I don't think you want to do a 20 minute walk through this."

"'Home'? I didn't know that's what my place was to you," Amy slyly smiled at him. "Then again you have been spending awfully a lot of time on my couch. I wonder if Tails misses you."

Sonic scoffed at her statement. "Have you forgotten that the house was originally mine?" Sonic moved fast, as always. He knocked her knees forward with his arm and swiftly caught her. Amy gave a small yelp in surprise. Sonic smirked at her and raised a challenging eyebrow. "Besides, Tails and Cream have been busy with one another a lot lately. When they do whatever it is those two want to call it it's only natural for the best friends to hang out with one another."

Sonic took off before Amy could reply. She knew that the run for him was very short and that she would be at her house in a minute, but for her it was always a long ride. The strange thing was when Sonic took her places, the world around her actually seemed to slow down. It was amazing how things worked like that.

Sonic set Amy down on her front porch. As always, her legs felt numb after the trip with him. Amy dug around in her messenger bag for her house key. She stopped when hearing an eerie sound of the door creaking. Her green eyes looked up through her lashes. Sonic was teasingly waving his own key in front of her. She was shocked that he had his own key to the house.

"I don't know how I feel about that," was all Amy said as she passed him into the house. Sonic followed behind her with a light chuckle. Amy dropped her bag onto the floor and kicked her shoes off by the door. Sonic made himself at home by rummaging through her fridge.

The pink hedgehog quickly made her way up the stairs. She unbuttoned her dress quickly. Her legs were covered in goosebumps from being exposed to the cold air. As quickly as possible she pulled on white pajama pants, a purple tank top, and a matching flannel.

When she returned back downstairs she found Sonic taking up almost the entire couch with a bowl of popcorn on his lap. "Feel free to put a movie on," he waved his hand towards the DVD player underneath the television.

Amy pulled out the first CD case she could find. She scrunched up her face at the cheesy cover of a blond cat in a ripped up wedding dress. A dark shadow stood over her shoulder. The title, written in blood, was _Till Death Do Us Part._

Amy held it up so Sonic could see it from his spot on the couch. "How about a horrible movie that we could make fun of for two hours?" He shrugged but actually liked the idea. For Sonic, it was hard to sit through a movie. He couldn't handle just watching other people talk. The idea of making fun of those people made having to sit and watch movies much easier.

Sonic sat up so Amy could have enough room for herself to sit on the couch as well. She reached into the bowl on his lap and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Thanks for offering me some," she sarcastically teased him. He returned with a two finger salute.

A harsh violin sound began to play at the opening credits. "I am almost certain that this music will be the scariest part," Sonic pointed out. Amy had to agree with him. The camera was shaky and the footage was slightly fuzzy. "The real horror is anyone actually liking this movie," Amy retorted.

The girl threw a piece of popcorn in the air and skillfully caught it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed the puffy piece. Sonic took this as a chance to show off. He threw a piece in the air as well. It obviously went higher than Amy's popcorn. The girl rolled her eyes at his satisfied grin as he swallowed the piece.

Amy picked another piece from the bowl. She tossed it higher, high enough to almost hit the ceiling. Amy tilted her head back, expecting to catch it as she had done before. She blinked dumbfoundedly as Sonic bursted out in laughter. The piece dropped down and bounced off of her quills. It didn't land anywhere near her mouth.

As if to make a point, Sonic threw two pieces of popcorn up and caught both of them.

Their attention finally turned back to the movie. Sonic kept yelling at the screen for the blond girl to run. "Why isn't she getting out of there?! The door is literally _right there_!" Amy's smile widened as Sonic became more pissed when the protagonist walked further into the dark building. "She deserves what's coming for her now." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the television.

"She can't help if she's curious," Amy tried to make a valid point.

"Can't she tell that she's going to get mauled by some creep in a black hoodie? The music kind of gives it away..."

"She can't hear the background music," Amy then muttered under her breath, "moron."

Sonic glared at her. "Why must she pursue her curiosity then?"

Amy swallowed hard. She turned her head away from the television and tilted it towards Sonic. "What's wrong with being curious? Maybe she just wants to know why some guy is chasing her."

Sonic slowly shook his head. "Ever heard of curiosity killing the cat?"

"Satisfaction brings it back," Amy then pointed to the screen, "which is why she is going to live." A static scream came from the TV. A man dressed in all black jumped out from around the corner. The blond screamed and began running back in the direction she came from.

"So many problems could have been avoided if only she wasn't curious." Sonic shook his head in disappointment. "She just needed to mind her own business, then she wouldn't be risking her life."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Amy bit her bottom lip as she waited for an answer. Sonic just shrugged and remained quiet. Amy didn't speak as well.

Although he probably thought nothing of it, Amy was slightly frantic of the idea of curiosity. She wondered if it really would be big of a problem for her. Amy always knew that she was a curious person. She wanted to know people, why there were the way they were. But her life isn't a horror movie. She can make decision and investigate without risking her life.

Amy hoped that was true. She hoped with her entire existence for a happy ending.

* * *

><p><strong>Thy breath be rude is a small segment from a William Shakespeare poem. It's called "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind". I just thought it would be appropriate as we get to see the beginning of the cold weather. We also see more of the complexity of what Cryssi is doing, which can compare to the extreme weather conditions. My one question about her to keep in mind is "What happened to her father?"<strong>

**I really wanted to get this chapter done because I am really excited for the next one. I can't say what it's about (hush hush secret) but I can say that it's pretty big and may be longer but will be posted hopefully by next Saturday!**

**That's about it. Bye! Bye!**


	19. Life Under Crystaline

**ghostdolly, I do not know if you're reading this but thank you so much for your kind reviews. Your enthusiasm and energy made me smile! And don't worry, in the end you will get all of your answers ;)**

**As I had promised, here is this chapter. Turned out longer than intended but I still enjoyed writing this one. (you'll see what I mean v)**

**Chapter: Life Under Crystaline**

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><p>"You really shouldn't look at him like that," Cream shook her head as she sipped from her thermostat. The hot chocolate slightly burned her tongue. She could feel the liquid go down her throat as she swallowed. The rabbit felt at ease as her whole body heated up.<p>

"I'm not looking at him in anyway," Amy crossed her arms and defended herself. She hadn't realised that she was staring at Sonic until Cream pointed it out. Amy sniffed her runny nose and didn't bother to try to clear her cloggy throat. The girl inwardly groaned at the idea of becoming sick.

The two girls sat at the bottom of a hill. Both huddled close to one another on snow as they watched people slip on the frozen pond. Team chaotix and Tails took it upon themselves to have a snowball fight. Every time Vector was hit he'd end up falling onto his tail. Sonic stood in the center of the pond, helping a pup keep his balance as he tried to skate. Not far from Amy sat the mother, smiling as her child's hero cared for the boy.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to show him any affection," Cream pondered out loud. Amy rolled her eyes, hoping the rabbit would drop the subject, but the girl was persistent.

"Don't you have school to go to?" Amy casted a glare at Cream. She grinned and shook her head, "I have a snow day today." Amy wasn't surprised. Even though it was a couple days until December there was already almost a foot of snow over the ground. Even Sonic, who persistently refused to wear snow boots or a hat, had trudged on a navy blue winter coat.

"Seriously, Amy," Cream chewed on the inside of her mouth, "you lately have been getting a look on your face whenever you see him." Amy tried to act as casual as possible around him. She raised an eyebrow, "What kind of look?" Cream tried to find the right word. She furrowed her eyebrows and thought deeply on what could explain it. Loving? No. Dejected? Not exactly. "Longing."

Even though her mouth was dry, Amy swallowed. She looked back at the scene of her friends enjoying the weather. Her eyes focused back on Sonic. Out of the corner of her eye Amy saw Cream lower her head while shaking it from side to side. The hedgehog couldn't help it.

As if he could feel her watching, Sonic looked up. Their green eyes met one another. She didn't look away for once. Sonic mouthed a couple words to her asking if she was okay. Amy didn't answer and instead turned her gaze to the tips of her boots.

"Watch out!" a voice ahead called out. Amy looked up just in time to see a snowball hit Cream in the center of her face. She blinked a few times, registering what just happened and why she was suddenly cold. Amy glared at Charmy for Cream. She stood up and balled up a bundle of snow herself. She expertly tossed it forward and hit the bee in his gut. The bee made a sound and buckled his knees. Soon both girls joined the whole group on the ice.

Cream kept frowning at all of her snowballs. Each of them came out sloppy. Everytime she tried to pack them harder it would just explode in her face. When the rabbit threw one her aim was either really off or it dispersed in the air. Amy giggled at her friend's antics. Cream eventually gave up and defeatedly sat on the sidelines once more.

Amy and Tails teamed up with one another. Tails alone was better at a snowball fight than Vector, Espio, and Charmy combined; now that he had Amy, their team crushed Chaotix. Tails and Amy highfived one another as they hit each enemy at the same time.

"Play time is over," Charmy determinedly looked at the hedgehog and fox. He made a fist and cracked his knuckles. Amy decided to just go along with his smack talk. "Bring it," she challenged as she held up another snowball.

Vector smirked as he threw one as fast as he possibly could. Both Tails and Amy ducked just in time for it to fly over their heads. Amy straightened up and smirked at the trio. "You guys make this too easy." Tails chuckled at her comment before throwing his own snowball. He just barely missed Espio.

Amy over handedly threw one at Vector. Simultaneously, Charmy threw one at Amy. It hit her on the right side of her chest. She fell backwards and had the wind escape her lips as her back hit the ice. Although it wasn't intentional, a chunk of ice was held up inside the snowball. She resisted the urge to rub her sore breast as she was surrounded by mostly guys.

"Are you okay?" Tails hovered over her. Amy weakly nodded as she sucked in a sharp breath. Tails held out his hand to help her up. Amy gratefully took it and slowly rose to her feet. Any sore feeling she felt was already starting to disappear. "I'm fine," she exhaled.

"You idiot!" Vector scolded Charmy as he whacked the back of the bee's head. Charmy rubbed the back of his head and mumbled an apology. Amy giggled at the interactions between the two.

Before anyone could make the next move a small cry, almost a squeal, was heard. Amy turned her head just in time to see Sonic lift up the little boy and throw him off to the side. The pup whimpered when he landed on firm snow over the dry land. The mother ran over frantically to attend her son.

Everyone was shocked as they saw the problem unfold in front of them. Before Amy could scold Sonic of the potential dangers of tossing children the ice broke. Her eyes widened at the shattering sound followed by a splash. She moved before her mind registered what was happening. "Sonic is terrified of water," Tails cried as he was at her side.

Amy slide onto her thigh as she approached the fragile ice. Tails began to hover above the ground. He looked down into the small hole that opened up to water. He could see the hedgehog's figure or splashes from a struggling persona. "He must be under the ice!"

Amy began to push the snow over. She kept finding dark shades underneath the sheets of ice. "_Oh Chaos,_" her mind kept frantically chanting over and over again. She was now on her hands and knees, scattering the snow like a mad person. It had only been ten seconds and her mind was already beginning to think the worse. She thought a hundred things at once to try to calm her shaking hands.

"_Nothing can happen to him."_

_"Sonic will be okay... even if he can't swim."_

_"Why wasn't he fast enough?"_

Amy used her whole arms to push a pile of snow over. Through the ice she could see a blurry shadow shifting against the bottom layer. "I found him!" she yelled up to Tails. Before the fox could make his way over to her, Amy already acted.

She felt the air rush through her gloved fingers as her hammer was now in her grip. It had been a while since she summoned her loyal weapon choice. Amy was never given a reason to use it on a daily basis. Eggman was laying low and she lived in a town of good people. The threat level was low here.

Amy expertly raised it high above her head. She brought it down with all the power that she could muster. The hammer broke through the ice. Large masses of the frozen pond began to split and drift away from one another.

Amy could still see Sonic, who seemed to begin to drift lower into the water. She already knew her arm was not long enough to reach down and fully grasp onto the hedgehog. She wasn't thinking when she took in a deep breath and dove in.

The frozen water made her want to cry. It burned her face and swarmed her entire body. Amy opened her eyes. She could only see where glimpses of light shone through from the surface.

She could see Sonic's figure only five feet below her. His head was bowed down and he seemed to have gone limp. Amy knew that he was not unconscious, there hasn't been enough time for the water to clog his lungs yet. It was almost as if he gave up already.

Amy pushed through the water and grabbed his wrist. His head snapped up to see Amy. Beams of light hit the back of her body, making it appear as if she held a certain glow.

Amy began to pull him with her upwards. As much as Sonic wanted to help, he couldn't bring himself to do so. The fur covering his bare legs seemed to do nothing as they fell numb. Sonic felt so hopeless as the girl who seemed half his size was dragging his whole weight with her.

As soon as Amy's hand broke the surface, another one gripped tightly on to hers and pulled her up. Amy blinked the water from her lashes. She looked up to see Vector pulling her across the icy pond.

Amy felt Sonic slip from her grip. She frantically looked back to see him on the stable land. Tails and Espio were at his sides. He hunched his back and coughed up pond water.

Amy shivered as it felt the air whipping her face. She was freezing underneath her coat. A good idea to her was a warm bath.

Vector laid her onto her back. Amy stared at the cloudy sky, making no attempt to move. "Amy!" Cream cried. The small girl was warm as she hugged Amy. The rabbits breath was hot against Amy's freezing skin. "I-I'm fine," Amy stuttered. She propped herself up onto her elbows.

The mother was still caring for her pup. She held the small boy on her lap and stroked the back of his head. His cries were muffled into her shoulder. She cooed sweet things into his ear to try to sooth him. Eventually the lady got up and walked away with her still weeping boy. Amy didn't make a comment on how she said nothing to Sonic about saving her son.

"I want to go home," she sat up and wrapped her arms around herself. Cream hoisted Amy to her feet as Espio approached them. "I'm taking Amy home," Cream explained. Espio nodded and lightly held Amy's elbow. Amy was a little surprised that he helped Cream guide herself home. Espio was usually quiet. He participated in conversation only a quarter of the time, maybe even less.

As they walked away, Amy could feel a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head. When she glanced over her shoulder, everyone else was already walking home in the opposite direction. The feeling of being observed wasn't shaken from her until the entire pond was out of sight.

When Amy stepped inside she immediately left her two friends behind and ran up the stairs. She shut the bathroom door behind her and began to peel the damp clothes off of her. She kicked off her boots and sat down in the clean tub. She twisted the faucets and put them to the highest temperature her body could handle.

Amy leaned back and closed her eyes. She dipped her hands down into the water. Her toes and fingertips stopped hurting after the water brought them back up to a suitable temperature. The water was filled up until it covered Amy's shoulders.

Amy sunk into the water. She blew bubbled from her mouth before resurfacing. Amy whipped the dripping water away from her face. She blinked a few times before idly looking around the empty bathroom. Condensation covered the mirror and made the reflections blurry.

She closed her eyes and thought of every problem in the world. Sonic was making her feel as anxious as ever. Amy wondered how he felt. It was obvious that Sonic had only platonic feelings towards everyone, including Amy. She wished that she could just not feel a certain need for Sonic in her life.

Amy then thought about the promise she made for the dream girl. Whether or not if Sonic is the person she is looking for, as someone who cares for him, Amy is willing to do anything for him. She would do anything for any of her knew friends. She realized that moving to this small town wasn't to just help a stranger but it was also for her own well-being.

* * *

><p>"Well, you don't have a cold," Tails looked down at the thermostat. He then casted a worried look at Sonic who slouched on the couch. He sighed and returned to the kitchen to put any of his medical supplies away.<p>

The fox knew it was best to remain quiet. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to try to cheer his best friend up with words. Tails knew Sonic to be one of the most stubborn people ever. When he put his mind to something, Sonic full heartedly believed that his thoughts were set in stone.

The blue hedgehog slouched on the couch. His coat had been discarded to the floor and his shoes were kicked in a pile near the door. Sonic balanced his arms on his legs and stared at his hands that hung like a rag dolls.

Vector and Charmy kept glancing at one another, unsure of what to do with themselves. It's been a while since they've seen Sonic seem so slumped. They've had a hint of why he could be disappointed. But should Sonic really be upset? He did save a kid, shouldn't that give him an accomplished feeling? Apparently not.

Everyone looked up when they heard the front door. Espio stepped into Tail's house. He stomped on the carpet to kick the snow off. The chameleon stopped when he realised everyone was looking at him. "What?" he asked, being oblivious to the tension in the air.

"How are Cream and Amy?" Tails asked as he came back into the room.

"Fine," he shrugged. "I left after a little after Amy started to feel sick. I guess she just has a headache or is nauseous. Cream said she'll take care of her."

"Is it because of the cold water?" Sonic looked directly at Espio. The chameleon could already tell that Sonic was feeling rather uncomfortable. Espio, although he found it unnecessary, could understand why the blue hedgehog had to blame himself.

"You know, the coldness from the weather doesn't actually cause the cold she's probably getting. It's actually caused by the way people spend more time inside and closer to one another. It makes passing germs from one another easier." Tails went around the couch and sat down next to Sonic, "so if Amy _is_ sick, it has nothing to do with you."

"I guess that's comforting," Sonic admitted with a sigh of relief. He leaned back into the couch with a worn out expression. He felt like taking a nap at the moment. Usually this would be the time that he would kick back on the couch and rest but he didn't like the idea of everyone being able to watch him sleep. It made him feel vulnerable.

Sonic often felt tired during the day due to his unusual sleeping schedule. He didn't sleep every night. Sometimes he would go to bed at ten in the morning and later wake past dinner time. Other times he would decide to sleep at evening and eventually rise up extremely early in the morning. The time of day had no control over when his body decided to shut down. Sonic didn't mind when for weeks he could actually sleep like a normal mundane.

He glanced over at the digital clock on the book stand. It was about an hour past noon. For some odd reason he had just wished that this day would end. It would give him a chance to start the next day as anew.

"Sonic," Tails broke the silence, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something that I've kind of noticed." Tails pulled out a small device that was no bigger than a plain old book. A square screen was brought to life. Sonic could understand the technology enough to recognize it as a digital map of the area. The entire thing was coded in green colors except for 8 small red dots on the screen.

"Do you see these red markings?" Tails pointed to the largest one on the screen as all the other guys began to swarm around them. Everyone silently nodded their heads. "These all represent a source of chaos energy. That one is the master emerald." No one said anything in response, allowing for the fox to continue on with his explanation.

"There are different units for different measurements of energy such as joules. Well natural chaos energy is measured in Lorentzes. You know how Shadow uses a chaos emerald to often teleport? Well one Lorentz would probably be able to take him 1000 feet, which isn't necessarily a lot to some people. But a chaos emerald has exactly 2 billion Lorentzes as a constant supply of energy. The master emerald has about 10 times as much Lorentzes as a single chaos emerald."

Tails then pointed to the corner where small numbers were printed. "My device measures all of the Lorentzes just to make sure that each emerald has the stable amount. Ever since two weeks ago I began to notice that _every _source has been raising in their amounts. The highest has risen up by 5 Lorentzes! I know number wise that isn't a lot, but think of it as 5,000 feet or maybe the difference between a chair falling over compared to the entire roof caving in. It can make a huge difference in some aspects."

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. He was no genius but he knew enough to understand the problem arising. "So why are they changing?" Sonic slowly asked as he turned to his friend sitting next to him.

"I," Tails paused for a moment causing everyone to be stuck in suspense, "don't know." Charmy outwardly groaned as Vector slapped his own forehead. "But it does mean something," the fox tried to confirm.

Sonic stood up and stretched out his back. "I guess we could pay Shadow a visit. Maybe he would know something."

"I doubt he would tell anything," Tails shook his head. He wasn't doubting the intellect of the darker hedgehog. Tails knew that even though he didn't like to show it, Shadow was very wise. But Shadow also minds his own business. If they all went bothering him, Shadow would surely just make annoyed remarks. "Not to throw you out there but maybe you should just go alone."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't mind. I know I'm Shadster's BFF," Sonic grinned at Tails. The younger boy just chuckled at how sure the hedgehog sounded.

"Good luck with that," Vector snorted.

* * *

><p>The next day, as Sonic said he would, the blue blur trudged through the snow and up to Shadow's dwelling. He didn't even bother to knock this time. Sonic already had this strange routine in his head. He would knock, Shadow would yell at him to go away yet somehow Sonic would end up sitting at the dining room table.<p>

Sonic shook off the snow that stuck to his fur. His mere presence made the house more lively. The duller hedgehog narrowed his eyes at some sort of book he was caught up in.

"No," Shadow said without looking up, "there's nothing new on Eggman."

"I wasn't going to ask that," Sonic unraveled the black scarf around his neck and hung it up on the coat hanger. He slipped his coat off and placed it on the hook as well. "But thanks for the update anyways."

Sonic mentally noted that Shadow had chosen to wear clothes, which most likely had to do with the weather change. The dark hedgehog wore dark jeans and a black, worn longsleeve. Sonic couldn't imagine Shadow clothes shopping, but the way the temperature continued to drop made it sound like a good idea.

"Actually it's something about your jewelry," Sonic referred the the two chaos emeralds Shadow currently possessed. The blue hedgehog took out the Lorentz tracker. He explained to Shadow how the readings had changed over the span of weeks.

Shadow pulled out the green emerald, which so happened to be his favorite. He twisted it over in his hands, as if he was a student examining a science experiment. "I have felt a slight... shift in the emerald," Shadow furrowed his eyebrows. Usually he understood the emerald more than he understood himself. "I can't say why they are acting this way. I'm not making them do that. They don't feel strained, so no one is forcing more energy onto them. Is the same thing happening to the Master Emerald?"

Sonic looked down at the screen of the device as he nodded. "Do you think Knuckles would know anything?" the blue hedgehog questioned. Shadow scoffed at that,"I doubt that. Unless if you told him anything, he probably hasn't even noticed a difference in that thing." Sonic didn't bother to defend the echidna, knowing that it would be pointless.

"Well I guess we're stuck," Sonic defeatedly dropped Tails's object onto the table. "Eggman disappeared for a few months and now _this _is happening. I'm beginning to feel a little useless."

"If you're looking for someone to boost your ego you've came to the wrong place."

Sonic dryly laughed at the statement. He knew very well that Shadow would never be a good person for comfort. "Don't worry, Shads," Sonic cunningly smiled, "your presence is all I need." Sonic put his hand over where he guessed his heart was.

Shadow rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to punch the other one in the face. "Just get out," he almost growled. He let his red eyes focus back onto the pages on his lap.

The blue hedgehog did as he was told and got out. He grimaced when seeing that it was beginning to snow again. Puffs of air were visible as he tromped from Shadow's house to the complex.

The stores were opened to all but it felt like a ghost town. No one else was walking about. Sonic felt very lonely in the evening. The lights hanging above shops seemed to create a spotlight for only him.

* * *

><p>"I'm fine, Cream, you can go home now," Amy persisted one more times. She coughed into her inner arm and waved the worried rabbit off. The ill hedgehog was getting sick of laying in bed all day. Cream and Vanilla had been babysitting her since yesterday afternoon. A girl really needed her alone time.<p>

The rabbit shut the bedroom door behind her. Amy crawled out of bed and looked out the window, watching the mother and daughter leave. The hedgehog felt a little guilty that she was happy to watch her best friend leave.

Amy did a small dance of joy. She guessed that she looked like a mad woman to anyone else. Her quills were messy and curled in random directions. Her cheeks and forehead were slightly tinted pink from the rise in her temperature. "Now I can actually move," she stretched her arms above her head.

Amy was disappointed that she had to spend an entire day locked up in her house. She loved her house, but she loved the fresh air even more. Amy opened up her window and leaned out. She let the wind blow through her quills and try to pull it along with her. The frosty air cooled the skin of her face and neck. The pink hedgehog closed her eyes. The feeling of serenity ran through her.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Amy opened her eyes and jumped with a yelp. The back of her head hit the bottom of the window. Amy cringed in pain before reaching her hand up to rub her injury. "That hurt," she paused for a second, "a little." Amy drew back from the window before sending a glare at the figure that hung from the sill. "I could ask you the same thing," she managed with a cough.

Sonic pushed off the tree branch and sat on the sill with one leg in the house and the other dangling outside. His eyes stared intently at her as she went into a fit of coughs. After Amy straightened herself up there was something new that she noticed about Sonic. Her eyes took in how casually he wore dark blue jeans along with a dark grey t-shirt under his navy blue coat.

"So," she casually struck up, "you learned how to put on pants?" Amy grinned as Sonic looked down at himself. "Yeah," he admitted, "it took a couple tries since I've read the manual wrong- accidentally set a sandwich on fire- but I've finally got it." Sonic returned the grin to Amy. "So, what do you think? Yay or nay?" Amy tapped her chin as she nodded in approval to him.

"Really," Sonic spoke more serious, "are you okay?" Amy nodded her head, feeling slightly confused at his attitude being different from his usual inclination. Sonic tilted his head as if he was looking at an unknown species. "Are you sure?" he slowly asked.

Amy rolled her eyes and fell backwards onto her bed. "What's bothering you?" she interrogated while staring at the ceiling. She heard the window close and a rustle of winter gear being removed. Sonic settled next to her and released a loud sigh. Their sides brushed against one another. Sonic's skin was icy cold compared to Amy's burning flesh.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday," Sonic felt as uncomfortable as he looked. He reached his right hand up to scratch the back of his hand. Amy gave him a sympathetic smile and propped herself up on her elbows. She placed her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, honestly, it's okay."

"It's just weird," The blue hedgehog admitted. He was supposed to be the hero. He was the one that saved other people. Sonic knew water to be a tragic weakness in his life. He always had done his best to avoid it. Stupidity washed over him. He let his guard down yesterday, which was a big mistake. "Oh, and thank you," Sonic stammered after realizing he hadn't properly said so.

Amy tried to pretend that his words didn't touch her. "It was nothing," she shrugged. "I mean you're my friend. I would do the same thing for anyone else." She swallowed, hoping that it would quiet the thudding of her heart, and smiled.

"So I've heard that you are currently sick," Sonic noticeable leaned away while smirking. "On a scale of 1 to 10 how contagious are you?"

Amy mocked being offended and punched his shoulder. "If you don't want to get an Amy disease then I suggest you just leave at this moment," Amy motioned to the closed bedroom door.

"Nah," Sonic swung his lower legs back and forth as they dangled over the edge of the bed, "if I leave I'll have nothing else to do. I think making sure your health is well should count as my good deed of the day."

Amy outwardly groaned as she rolled as far away from Sonic as she could. "I've been babied all day," she ironically whined.

Sonic chuckled and sat up. The darkness that dwelled on the evening made it hard to see any kind of landscape through the window. He could only clearly make out the tree that leaned in front of the window.

"You should rest more," Sonic spoke solely from experience, "it'll make you feel better."

"I'm not even tired," Amy protested. She crossed her arms over her chest and did her breath to suck in her yawn. "_P__erfect timing_," she sarcastically scolded herself.

"Are you sure about that?" Sonic doubtfully raised an eyebrow at her. He stood up and propped up a pillow. Amy grudgingly moved so that she could lay her head on it with her comforter over her body.

"Are you just going to loom over me like a stalker while I sleep?" Amy joked as she looked up at Sonic.

He narrowed his eyes and crouched down beside her. "I'll just stay beside you until you fall asleep, _then_ I'll make your fridge mine."

"It amazes me that you aren't fat," Amy retorted back right away. She really didn't want to spend the next 8 hours sleeping more, but as nighttime was creeping up she was running out of ideas of what to do. "But I don't want to sleep," Amy stubbornly argued.

"With that attitude," Sonic poked her nose, "you wont fall asleep." Amy hoped Sonic wouldn't notice that her face became even more pink than it already was.

"Fine," Amy gave in, "but you have to tell me a story then. You know, to help me fall _asleep_."

"What kind?"

"A love story."

"Geez, what is it with girls and love stories?"

"Shut up and tell me a story!"

"Okay, okay!"

Sonic's smile disappeared. The way his eyes appeared lost and needy remained static on his face. "Okay," he said for the third time. "I have a story for ya." Amy bit on her bottom lip as she waited for him to share what he was thinking.

"There's this place that's far away from here. It's a lot hotter and the population is over 50 times the amount of people that live here. It was a small, beautiful kingdom. This kingdom was called... Crowned Valley. CV wasn't on any of the modern day maps. No one ever moved away from the kingdom, and if they did they would eventually move back after dealing with horrid homesickness.

"To the far left of the kingdom was this large hill where a single castle stood above everyone else. In this castle lived the royal family, which consisted entirely of porcupines. There was a king, a queen, a princess, and two younger princes. The youngest had a dear friend from the neighboring kingdom. Everyday he would see a young girl from a kingdom mostly for chipmunks.

"The youngest prince and chipmunk had practically grown up with one another. She was there for him when he had to deal with the death of his stressing father. He was there for her when she'd complain all the time about how her mother forced her to wear dresses. Eventually this caring friendship turned into love. Even though they had an arranged marriage, both were able to find natural love in one another. They had officially started dating in their early teen years.

"He was entrance by every aspect of the girl. The prince would stare at his beautiful love every evening while she spoke fondly of the sunsets. He would listen to her silly rants on how wonderful shorts were.

"High on love and wanting to make her happy; the prince decided to do something special for his princess. She often spoke on wanting to know what it was like to live as commoners. The prince was also curious as to what it was like at the bottom of the hill. So for her birthday he gave her shorts to wear and snuck her away from the castle. It was like an adventure between the two. They secretly ran away from home and pretended to act as if they were normal for once.

"Were they?" Amy asked. She laid on her side facing Sonic. His position on the floor allowed his head to be on the same level as hers. "'Were they' what?" Sonic furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding the question. "Normal." Sonic scoffed at the question. "Now that I think about it," he pondered aloud, "no. No they weren't normal. Is anyone actually normal?" Amy realized that his question was rhetorical and didn't answer.

"Anyways it was a great day for the two. Their love was stronger than ever, I guess. Now lets fast forward months later. They're both still happy as a couple. As the princess comes to visit as usual, the porcupine family is leaving. There's a big family reunion going on. The princess didn't mind staying at the castle all day. It was like a second home to her.

"Staying alone did eventually bore her so she decided to do something risky. She thought back to the time where she had so much fun going down to the village with the commoners. The princess decided it would be a great idea to go down there. Only problem was that when she went down there, she never came back.

"The prince came home and she wasn't there. Her family worried as did everyone else for the well being of the beautiful chipmunk. But yet she didn't return.

"Down in the village there was an accident. It just so happens that of all the people there, it was the princess that was fatally hit by a car. She had died and a large part of the prince wished that he had physically died with her since he fully believed that he was already dead on the inside.

Sonic fell silent as Amy sat up. She saw how his expression was clouded. "Sonic, are you okay?" He didn't answer her question. He stood up with a small grunt and looked down at Amy. As if she was a child, he gently pushed her back down with one hand. Amy stared at his back as he walked to the door.

"Is that how it ends?" she asked before he could reach the handle. "What happens to the prince?"

"Nothing happens to the prince," Sonic's voice was flat.

"It can't end that way," Amy asserted. She wanted something that would give her happy thought's. It didn't surprise her that Sonic was poor at telling stories, but she didn't expect something so tragic.

"Why not?"

"A story is supposed to give hope," Amy sat up once more. "A_ love_ story, especially one meant for bedtime, is supposed to leave someone with a fuzzy feeling. Now I just feel like a stone."

"Well if you don't like it then change it." Sonic turned around and leaned his back against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and wondered to himself what he had gotten himself into.

Amy considered it for a moment. She looked at Sonic and caught the way his lips were pressed into a thing line. She sighed and shook her head. "No," she laid back down and rolled onto her side she she wouldn't have to look into his green eyes. "I- I'm sorry. The story deserves it's justice to be trusted to stand on it's own as it is."

Sonic was taken back by her words. He was expecting he to make up something crazy like the princess living and everyone having their happily ever after life. But he was suddenly thankful for Amy. She wouldn't understand his gratitude, but he felt very lucky to have a more emotionally opened friends such as her.

Sonic walked over to the bed and laid on top of the sheets. "Goodnight," he stared at the back of Amy's head. "Goodnight," Amy responded, knowing that in the morning she would find him on her couch. But for the moment neither hedgehogs were tired.

* * *

><p><strong>I wanted to put the use of clothes on some of our male characters to help show how cold it is getting. Also I wanted to kind of show that in this world wearing clothes isn't really a necessity. I wanted to show it more as a choice like choosing to wear a hat or not except with pants.<strong>

**Since this was getting extremely long I decided the next chapter will just be a continuation of this one. So until next time...**


	20. A Trance From The Past

**TAADAA! Oh Gosh I don't know how many chapters there are left. Maybe ten or so. We're roughly past 50% of the story's completion. I hate thinking like this because my mind is already turning on different story ideas and it's bothering me so much! But I must hold back and finish this!**

**Chapter: A Trance From The Past**

* * *

><p>Amy looked around her. One minute she was laying alone in her bed, the next she was waking up in empty space. "This place again," she murmured to herself. "Hello?!" Amy called out louder. She had a feeling she wasn't alone. "Where are you?!" Amy slowly turned in a circle to look around her.<p>

"Behind you," the soothing voice said. Amy jumped slightly and spun around. She saw the familiar image of a beautiful squirrel.

"Why am I here again?" Amy recognized her in the non-dream state. "Did I do something wrong?"

The girl softly smiled at her. The squirrel shook her head as she took two steps closer to Amy. She put both of her hands on the hedgehog's shoulder. Her expression became more serious. "I'm not really supposed to be talking to you any more. I've already meddled with the living when I first contacted you," she bit her bottom lip. Amy could've sworn the girl looked fearful for a moment.

"W-what's wrong?" Amy stuttered.

Wide blue eyes looked straight into the girl's green eyes. "I have to warn you about something," Sally spoke quickly. "When I first had you come to Emerald Town I had expected everything I anticipated for you to be fairly simple. You have done nothing wrong but someone else is planning on doing something very wrong."

Amy's first thought went straight to Eggman. It was as if the squirrel understood exactly what she was thinking. "Yes," she confirmed, "that evil man does have something to do with it. Please watch out for him. The next time you see him, everything is going to change."

The pink hedgehog was confused. The girl pulled away from her and began to back up. Amy reached out to grasp her wrist but found that her hand went right through the flesh. "Wait!" she cried. "You can't leave me yet! You have to explain to me what this means! What will change?! What is Eggman doing?!"

"I'm sorry," the blue eyed beauty sighed, "I can't tell you, I can only warn you. You're the only one I can talk to. Try to tell the others, if they'll believe you. Be prepared for what is to come."

"Why can't you tell me?!" Amy protested. She began to feel very frustrated at all the she had to figure out. Why was she handed to many indirect tasks.

"It's against my position as someone who can just observe the world."

"'Observe'?!" she threw back. Amy buried her face into her hands. "Why me? Why did you choose me to watch over? To send on this little mission that's making my life more complicated than it needs to be?"

"Because," the observer said as she drifted further away, "you are the savior."

* * *

><p>Amy opened her eyes to become familiar with the ceiling. She could feel a cold sweat sticking to her neck and chest. The girl blinked away the stinging she felt on her eyes. Amy could still feel the cold fingers of her dream friend grasping her shoulders.<p>

Amy rolled over and checked the time. It was only 6 O'clock in the morning. The pink hedgehog had only slept for 3 hours but yet she did not feel tired.

She stretched her arms up and stumbled out of bed. She peeked down the stairs when she noticed that the lights on the lower level were on. She rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the brightness. "Did you stay up all night?" she asked as she made her way downstairs.

Sonic looked up from his spot at her dining room table. She noticed he was studying a gadget that was most likely made by Tails. "What's that?" Amy pointed at it as she took a seat next to him.

"It's this thing that keeps track of chaos emeralds," Sonic turned it over so that she could see the red markings on the map.

"Hmm," Amy hummed thoughtfully. "I didn't know you were into these kinds of things."

"I'm not," he admitted truthfully. Sonic didn't usually care for the chaos emeralds. Even though they had a lot of power, trouble always came with it. Even Tails avoided using them as an energy source. The only person he has ever known to be able to remotely control the powers is Shadow.

"Then why do you have it?"

Sonic handed the instrument over to Amy. "Something is wrong with the balance of the chaos emeralds," Sonic explained, "including the Master Emerald." Amy read the comparisons in numbers from what they should be to what they actually were. "Nothing is disturbing the emeralds, so all these occurrences are natural. But what's odd is that they have never just naturally changed on their own."

Amy's mouth made an "O" shape as she blankly stared at the screen. She thought back to her "dream" and the warning she got. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Eggman was working on something yet at the same time objects of immense power were starting to alter.

Amy chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Do you think Eggman is involved?"

Sonic shrugged. Although Tails had said that Eggman couldn't cause for the energy to change, Sonic wouldn't be surprised if his enemy had a part in it. That man always managed to mess things up and cause catastrophes. The old man always failed but he was still highly intelligent. Sonic had realized at the beginning of the summer that he should not be taken lightly.

"Eggman," Sonic spoke as if he was testing the name out for the first time, "is lying extremely low. I'm pretty sure he left the town. I don't know exactly where he is. Even though I can run fast, it would still take a while to actually find him since he could be _anywhere_ on this planet." Sonic groaned and rubbed his face in annoyance. "If it was possible he would probably be at the bottom of the ocean in some kind of underwater nest," he added as an afterthought.

Even though the topic was semi-serious, Amy still giggled at the way Sonic talked about his nemesis. Sonic usually spoke about Eggman as if the human was a younger brother he liked to pick on or an annoying friend that he just couldn't get rid of.

"But when he hatches he won't be able to fly away," Amy played around with the name of the villainous man. "He'll drown trying to," Sonic added on to Amy's statement. "He'll be Egg-dead," she finished. Both hedgehogs knew it was a very lame joke but laughed anyway. Laughing was a remedy to all the confusion and problems that were in their lives. It was better to shine a light over the situation than to make it a dark place.

"So," Amy began as she calmed down, "what are your plans for today?" Sonic leaned back into his chair. He had no idea what he was going to do. He was very lazy in general but the idea of _having_ to stay inside all day due to weather made him want to leave. He yearned to run once more but couldn't since there was not a snowplow to make a path or anyone willing to do the job.

"I hope I'll come up with something by noon," Sonic wouldn't mind spending the day with Tails. He had noticed himself that his go-to person for a place to rest was becoming Amy. It was weird for it to be anyone else other than Tails.

Amy moved to pull her jar of coffee out of the cupboard. "Who knows?" she said over her shoulder. "Maybe you'll just end up sitting next to a rock."

* * *

><p>Knuckles leaned onto the Master Emerald. He tucked his head into her chest. His purple eyes gazed over the figure below him. Rouge laid on her side, facing away from him. Her head rested on his lap.<p>

The air was still bitter. Any snow that had been on the stone around the emerald was plowed away as soon as possible, leaving the ground dry.

"I like this," Rouge admitted with a sigh of content. Knuckles nodded even though she could not see his head. "It's nice to do something that doesn't require moving for once," she continued. "I feel like I've been so busy lately."

"Doing what exactly?" Knuckles inquired suspiciously. He gently rubbed a soft spot behind her ear before lightly pulling on it until it fell from his grip. He repeat this a couple of times.

Rouge shrugged one shoulder, "Just... things. Nothing really important." Rouge knew that was a lie. She could feel Knuckles scowling at the back of her head when he abruptly stopped caressing her ear. Knuckles knew it was a lie aswell.

"Rouge," he warningly used her voice.

"Everything has been weird lately," she quietly said. Rouge being quiet was something only Knuckles ever heard, and he took great pride in it. Of course his bat often made small talk, even if it was mostly her doing the talking. But her tone was always at ease when she let herself be vulnerable to love around him.

"What do you mean by weird?" he started to pet her ear once again.

"Well Cryssi-"

"Is irrelevant," he cut her off. "Things happen to people and we don't exactly know why. She made it clear that she no longer wants to be our friends so it's our job to back out."

"Wouldn't real friends pry to make sure she is okay?"

"No offense, Rouge," Knuckles said, knowing he was treading on dangerous waters, "but I haven't seen you making a big effort in trying to sustain a friendship. You kept yelling at her about always helping her dad out."

"She's not helping her dad," Rouge protested. Knuckles furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding what else she could be doing. "Don't act stupid," Rouge scolded, "you and I both know it's true. We haven't seen her dad in months. A farmer doesn't work in the winter time. He usually comes around the stores during this time. Has anyone seen him? No. Cryssi has stopped talking to _anyone_ all together, even Cream."

Knuckles tilted his head back and stared at the grey sky. "I guess you do have a point," he reasoned. If Cryssi really had ever been helping her father, she would have at least began to hang out with them once more when it was all over or gave everyone to opportunity to help as well.

"I'm thinking about going by her house," Rouge absently played with her fingertips, "just to see if anyone is home."

Knuckles sighed at his persistent girlfriend. He knew that she would dig her nose into something. "If no one is home then just leave," he ordered.

Rouge grinned at him, "You really expect me to do that?" He didn't.

* * *

><p>"Well this is interesting," a rough voice spoke in amusement. The man twisted the end of his mustache. "I think I can use this for myself," he laughed wickedly. It was the kind of laugh that made babies cry and teenage girls cringe.<p>

"What is it, Doctor?" somehow Deceo managed to sound nervous despite being a robot.

Doctor Eggman was currently looking up at a giant computer screen. It illuminated the dark and almost dead room. "Can't you read, fool?" he bitterly spoke.

Deceo turned his head to the screen. His robotic eyes analyze the writing displayed in large text. He became shocked at what was imputed into his data chip. "That can't be," was all the robot was able to manage.

"I was able to search everyone," he announced to no one in particular, "including that little pink brat." He spat the mention of a hedgehog. Eggman had truly come to hate the mobian species. "_Little orphan Amy_," he taunted. The fat man rolled her eyes. He didn't pity her or anyone else. "But this by far is the best thing I have ever found."

Deceo looked up at the picture of a blue hedgehog who strikingly resembled the semi-famous Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hedgehog looked younger in his face. His cheeks and torso were rounder with baby fat. His legs were also noticeably shorter. A golden crown was placed sloppily on the young kid's head. Deceo could still recognize him with the unique fur color and shiny green eyes. "But that doesn't make sense," the robot almost spoke frantically.

"It doesn't," Eggman smirked, "why would that blue brat with no manners come from royalty?" Eggman reread the title of the article.

"**PRINCE ****SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: DEAD BUT NOT GONE**"

"Surely this isn't accurate," Eggman motioned his hand towards it. "Our little friend faked his own death. I will love exposing him, but there's something we need to find out before so."

"What is that?" Deceo questioned quickly.

Eggman cupped his chin and made a thoughtful expression. "Why? Why would he fake his own death? He's very bad at it; he didn't even change his name." Eggman shook his head in a disappointed manner. He continued to read the modern article for the tenth time.

"_Tragic had struck Mob Kingdom with the loss of the youngest prince. It was one day that the royal family had woken up with one less member. Sonic the hedgehog was absent from the castle and the town itself. __Sonic the Hedgehog had gone missing approximately six years ago. Queen Aleena had remained quiet since the loss of her son. Although he had not legally been announced dead and will not be for another year, the kingdom in his grief had come to conclusions after three years that he infact was deceased._

_"__The last sighting of him had been late on the evening before his disappearance. He was seen by a servant walking to the Queen's chambers. No one had seen him since then. Not even the Queen reported a sighting of her own son even though he had entered her master room. __It is rumored that he was walking through the castle to say his final goodbye to his family while they slept."_

_"It also had been reported through other medias and staff members that for an entire week before Prince Sonic was acting peculiar. For months after the death of Princess Sally Acorn of the Acorn Kingdom, who was to be wedded to him through an arrangement, Prince Sonic isolated himself from the world and would not fit to see anyone that was not related to him by blood. His siblings, Princess Sonia and Prince Manic, had not shown any notice to the way Prince Sonic had suddenly became more opened before his disappearance."_

_"With the anniversary of the disappearance coming up in a couple of weeks, town shops begin to prepare for the memorial in dedication to Prince Sonic the Hedgehog. Citizens of Mob Kingdom try to make this memorial griefful with a touch of excitement that matched the Prince's personality before he left. There are many different races held to show the gift the Prince had to run faster than any car."_

_"Even though the youngest son of the Royal family is gone, the kingdom is strong enough to continue on. Queen Aleena will be stepping down from the throne this year on the same day as the memorial. At this time Prince Manic the hedgehog will become king of Mob Kingdom along with princess Mina the mongoose. He will deliver a speech as a contribution to his brother to show how even though it has been many years later, the feelings for the beloved Prince Sonic will always be strong."_

"Deceo," Eggman snapped. He immediately caught the robot's attention. If it was physically possible, the robot would sweat from the nervous feeling he held. "Tell me," he ordered in a more calm manner, "about how long have we known of Sonic?"

"Well," Deceo chirped, "if you mean the fake Sonic the Hedgehog that currently is living in Emerald Town, then that would be six years. Of course if you mean the real identity of Sonic the Hedgehog, _Prince _Sonic the Hedgehog, then about only one hour. Although both Sonic's are the same people. One is just not telling the truth about who he really is. I would say he's probably trying out for some sort of role for a movie. Talk about dedication." Deceo didn't even notice how he had talked faster and faster as more words came out of his mouth.

Eggman didn't comment on the stupidity of his robot. He often wondered why he even bothered to keep the ones who truly has scraps of metal for brains. "It's ironic," the man said aloud, "the hero is nothing but a liar."

* * *

><p><strong>So I know that the "dream" scene was short. I purposely wanted to make it that way to kind of show you the minimum ability the "observer" (I'm pretty sure you all know who she is by now) has to actually communicate. I also didn't want her to be able to come out and tell Amy everything she needed to know now because what fun would that be?<strong>

**Also to some people this weather with hot and dry summers along with extremely cold winters is surprisingly accurate to where I live. Although this past summer has been really rainy, a couple summers ago it was already 80 degrees (F) in March but towards the beginning of December it was FREEZING. So I'm not trying to make the weather unrealistic but more from what I've experienced.**

**I'm glad to get a Knuckles and Rouge scene in. There's been a lot of Sonic and Amy. I hope I'm not overdoing it. I just want to show that they ARE getting really close. But the next will be less fluffy (sorry!)**

**Also MORE EGGMAN STUFF BECAUSE WHY NOT?**

**Until next time, friends...**


	21. The Chiroptera and Hedgehog

**Ello mates! I hope that to anyone who does celebrate this holiday had a lovely Thanksgiving. **

**I gotta hold back on my Sonamy in this guys, it's becoming a little too much even though it is fitting into my plot beautifully. Lets revert our attention to some of our other beloved characters such as Rouge and Shadow.**

**Chapter: The Chiroptera and Hedgehog**

* * *

><p>Days had passed and it was now in the middle of December. The storms had left behind a cold blanket of snow covering the land. People remained huddled inside buildings as much as possible.<p>

Rouge in particular fluttered on her own. She hummed a new pop song she had heard on the radio to herself. She couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to fulfill her childhood dreams of becoming famous. Then it would have been herself on the radio.

She did find herself preferring the life she already had. It was so carefree in her part. She had the ability to do whatever she wanted to at any time possible. The thought of having a strict schedule of doing interviews and not being able to walk the streets peacefully seemed unappealing.

Rouge grinned to herself when she broke the tree line. She approached the small house that stood solo. There was only one person she knew who purposely kept himself sealed away from society.

She playfully knocked on the front door. "Oh, Shadow," she sung to the house, "I know you're in there."

As she expected, he opened the door without debating. She was slightly shocked to see him looking tousled. He wore mostly dark clothing that was now wrinkled. If anything, he appeared to have just woken up in mid afternoon.

"Sleep much?" Rouge questioned as she walking into the house past shadow.

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Shadow interrogated as he closed the door. Although his words were kind, the tone of his voice was rough and slightly hoarse from just waking up.

Rouge unwrapped her purple scarf from around her neck and draped it over the back of one of the table chairs. "Can't I just visit one of my pals?" she innocently shrugged while taking off her coat.

"You haven't visited for months," Shadow mumbled as he turned his attention to stacks of paper on his table. He began to collect them into neatly organized piles. Rouge picked up one packet and scanned over it. She had worked enough with Eggman and Shadow in the past to be able to read the human English.

She furrowed her eyebrows when looking at the printed sketches. She could tell by the ink that they were just copies, not the originals. "This looks like something I would find out of a nerd's book," she noted. It was easy to tell that it was a machine. Different parts of it were labeled with small arrows pointing from the notes.

"That nerd would be Eggman," Shadow clarified as he set down his own work to look at what Rouge was holding. "I was just going through his lab for one last time before I would consider just giving up that he was planning something big. What do I just so happen to find? A notebook he left behind with everything step by step. I didn't want him to know I was still there after he was gone so I decided to scan and print out every page."

Rouge hummed in wonder as she looked over each page. "So what _has_ he been up to then?" Rouge was just as curious as anyone else what her old boss was up to. Over the years she had learned to never trust Eggman or work for him no matter the pay. She knew that even though he always failed he still had an IQ of 300. He was definitely a genius.

Shadow was finally able to get a jist of what Eggman was planning. "I'm not exactly sure that this will work though," he said more to himself. He realized Rouge was giving him a confused look, not understanding what Shadow had meant.

"Do you remember that story of Riley? And how he supposedly saved this town?" Shadow suddenly asked. Rouge was unsure on how that had to deal with anything but she nodded her head anyways. "Do you believe it?"

Rouge shrugged and leaned onto the table. "It's more of a legend than history. I'm not one to think of guardian angels and ghosts."

"Me neither," Shadow took the papers from Rouge and flipped through it as he had been before, "but Eggman's plan is kind of surrounding that legend, which confuses me. How can I take this seriously if he is balancing everything on a myth over facts?"

Rouge sat on the table and crossed one leg over the other. She thoughtfully pursed her lips while she covered them with her hand. "I still don't understand exactly what he is doing," she reminded Shadow.

Shadow handed them back to Rouge. "For starters, it is powered by the Master Emerald. Sonic came to me a couple weeks ago telling me about how the emeralds have been slowly gaining their chaotic power. I'm assuming that Eggman didn't _cause_ this but knew it was going to happen. He will use this as his advantage in his machine."

Shadow moved to stand directly in front of Rouge. He pointed to the center of the machine where a large octagon cut a hole through it. "This is supposed to be some sort of portal. By Eggman's notes, he believes that the dead and the living are a part of two different worlds that are connected. The portal will be able to bring the living into the dead and vice versa."

Rouge nodded silently. It did seem bizarre to her. She wondered when everyone else found out if any of them will bother to even make an attempt to stop them. She could just imagine Sonic pulling out a lawn chair to watch Eggman fail or Knuckles becoming more hotheaded for his time being wasted.

"Do you remember that angel from the story?" Shadow continued but didn't bother for an answer. "Well, if you have ever read a written and more detailed version of the story, the angel commands the dead buried in the local cemetery. He plans on negotiating with that angel so he could convince her to allow him to command the dead. He wants an army of ghosts."

Rouge bit on her tongue to prevent herself from laughing. "Are you sure this isn't some kind of joke?" she tilted her head at the papers. Shadow shrugged, "I'm guessing we shouldn't even bother then," he sounded bored now. Shadow hid the fact that he was slightly disappointed. When Sonic first came to him months ago and with Eggman acting so serious, he silently did wish for some sort of fight to break out.

Shadow couldn't help that a part of him still itched to fight. He would love to take all the stress from his past and present out on Eggbots. Ever since he officially decided to detach himself from working with -or for- Eggman and any other association such as G.U.N his life had become substantially dull.

He had to lead a new life. Shadow couldn't help what his instincts turned into after meeting Sonic. Shadow despised a corrupt group such as G.U.N. Even though in the past they had claimed to was peace for every world, there was a lot of black mail involved. Every threat made was not empty.

The dark hedgehog eventually decided to settle where one of the few people he had ever truly trusted was in arms reach. Shadow would never admit that to Sonic.

Rouge spoke up before his thoughts got too sidetracked. "I say we should just for the heck of it. But let's wait before we tell them."

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Rouge. "Why wait?" he questioned her.

Rouge rolled her eyes. She wasn't surprised that he was unaware of what time it was. "It's Christmas season," she spoke as if he was the most oblivious person in the world, "no one wants to hear annoying Eggman business at this time. Plus you know how Sonic gets at this time of year." Shadow himself never celebrated Christmas. He wasn't particularly religious and did not think much of it. He was well aware that many other people who weren't religious such as himself still participated in this holiday that he did not put any effort in.

Shadow remained quiet as he did not want to go in further detail on the behavior of Sonic during the winter season. Everyone didn't really mention it. They all got used to it after two years. Sonic never said anything about it so they didn't pry.

"I guess it could wait anyways," Shadow dismissed the idea of making the new information urgent.

"Are you sure that this is legit," Rouge asked one more time as she stood up. She gave Shadow a "you better not be messing with me" look. He returned it with a "I wouldn't bother my time doing so" expression.

"So," Rouge began to attempt small talk as she picked up her scarf, "what are you going to be doing now?"

It was an interesting question that he couldn't answer. Shadow had no idea what to do. He actually considered paying a small visit to Amy Rose, the pink girl that seemed to have appeared out of no where. He remembered seeing her rescue Sonic from the pond. No one saw Shadow standing at the top of the hill staring at all of them. He had watched the scene like it was movie.

He wasn't surprised that the girl dove in almost right away to grab Sonic. Amy had a big heart. He knew by now that she thought selflessly for the small town citizens. It amazed Shadow how even though she moved in over the summer, it felt like she lived here her whole life. No one has ever bonded as well as Amy.

"I'll find something," Shadow came up with instead of saying "nothing."

Rouge didn't believe him one bit. She gave a tired sigh as she looked over Shadow. He was one person that she could immensely feel sympathetic towards. She tried her best to not show it, knowing Shadow would just view it as her thinking of him as weak.

Rouge was one of the rare few that knew every detail of Shadow's past. Most people just think of him as being made in a lab, befriending Maria, and becoming bitter after watching her die. Most people didn't know of how kind he truly was. They didn't think of the fact that his body does not age. No one even considered that despite his past actions, he really did want to try hard to bring justice.

Rouge would never see the cruel, goth hedgehog that others mistakenly did as they judged him.

"Well," she started wrapping up while heading to the door, "if you ever need anyone, you know where to find me."

Shadow rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I'm assuming that means wherever Knuckles is so are you."

Rouge looked back over her shoulder and grinned at him. She winked before taking off into the air, leaving the door for Shadow to close. Shadow couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. It was surprising that Rouge of all people was someone he could easily tolerate.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that this is short, the next one is going to be a holiday chapter (I swear I didn't purposely do that, it's so coincidental that the posting dates and dates in the story are starting to match up.) It is going to be very long so the next chapter wont be out for a couple of weeks. Also I need to add some suspense between chapters.<strong>


	22. Season of Euphoria

**AHHH HERE IT IS! THE LEGENDARY CHRISTMAS CHAPTERS! Okay so for the holiday special (as my gift to you) I had promised you a long chapter. Well it started to get too long so I split it in half. You'll still be getting both parts. I'll be posting the second one later.**

**So I guess you could consider this part 1 of 2 for the christmas special. And I'm sorry if holiday stuff bothers you to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. Even though I am personally a Christian, I am refraining from talking about my personal beliefs. Any comments are what I try to make from the POV of a character. Also, I wish you a wonderful whateveryoucelebrate!**

**Chapter: Season of Euphoria**

* * *

><p>Christmas music tuned in the background. The air inside the house was warm and welcoming. The living room was crowded with people as everyone hummed together the familiar tunes of the Holidays.<p>

Amy was currently standing on a small ladder so she could reach the ceiling. She held a thick, red streamer up to catch it on the hook. Tails held to ladder still to make sure she couldn't fall.

Across the room Charmy sunk into the couch with a bowl of popcorn and thread. He strung the popcorn onto the thread piece by piece. He couldn't help but become tempted to eat the popcorn when he believed no one was watching him.

Behind the bee Espio busied himself by going through a box of Christmas decorations. He took out each nutcracker that seem valid to place on the mantel above the fireplace. He occasionally whacked Charmy upside the head when he caught his younger friend eating the decorations.

Vector, Vanilla, and Rouge were decorating the Christmas tree. It was fortunate that they all were taller than most of the people around them, it made reaching the top of the tree to hang an ornament much easier. They pulled out lights to wrap on the branches. Each light held a glow of a different color from gold to red to green.

It was much more quiet in the kitchen. Cream, Sonic, and Knuckles all hung out on the island. Sonic watched with an amused expression as Knuckles tried to help build a gingerbread house. He noticed the way the echidna delicately held the roof together while Cream used the frosting as glue.

"Now don't break it!" Sonic teased as he shook his finger at Knuckles. The echidna huffed but made no comment towards Sonic. Cream giggled at the boy's reactions. "Oh, Sonic," she sighed, "leave poor Knuckles alone." She giggled more when she noticed Knuckles cheeks tint pink in embarrassment. Sonic chuckled along with her.

Knuckles let go of the roof when it was sturdy enough to stand up on its own. Cream began to organize her candies and frostings into different groups by types and colors. Sonic inwardly cringed as how much she was organized. He managed to make a mess of his own wallet, which laid around underneath the couch at Tails' home.

"So what's your game plan?" he asked Cream as he leaned further onto the counter.

"I want to make a path going around the house," Cream pointed out where the different parts of her plan would lay, "and there will be windows and doors. Icicles will hang from the roof. Also there will be chimney with a fat man sticking out of it!"

Both Sonic and Knuckles raised their eyebrows at her. Cream shrugged her shoulders. "Santa Claus." Both boys silently said "O" as they understood what she had meant.

Cream, being 13, understood the truth about the legend of Santa. She still liked to speak about him as if he was factual instead of fictional. It always gave the holiday a more magical feeling and kept people high in spirits.

Cream pasted gumdrops onto the plate with he frosting. "So Knuckles," she didn't look up from her work as she spoke, "what are you getting Rouge for Christmas?"

Knuckles furrowed his eyebrows. He looked dumbfound in front Sonic and Cream. "I'm supposed to get her something?" Cream sighed in disappointment and shook her head. She wasn't one to judge the relationship between Rouge and Knuckles. Like anyone else, she wondered what they did in their romantic alone time. It was hard to imagine someone who was one of her brotherly figures to lovingly show affection.

Sonic hit his own forehead. "Knuckles," he said as he grasped the other boy's shoulder, "when you have a special lady friend," Cream snorted at Sonic's term for "girlfriend," earning her a stern glance, "you have to make sure she is happy." He motioned towards Rouge who was in the other room. "She wants presents," Sonic continued, "like pink stuff and chocolate."

"Are you sure you aren't thinking of Amy," Knuckles teased. Sonic glared at him but made no comment on the subject. "Girls like pink, Knuckles," Sonic justified his reasoning.

"Actually," Cream intervened, "it depends from person to person. Just like guys, every girl is different." Cream giggled to herself over their cluelessness.

"Guys are easy," Knuckles argued, "we don't actually need anything. As long as we have a good time." Him and Sonic bumped fists over the island in agreement.

Cream rolled her eyes. She knew that she couldn't counter that when she was talking to one of the most easy going people ever. "So what are you going to get her then?" she steered back to the original topic of Rouge's gift.

"You're a girl," Knuckles ruffled the fur on the top of Cream's head, "does Rouge ever talk about what she wants during your female chats?" Cream scrunched up her face and fixed her already tidy fur. "Well Rouge _really_ likes gems," she pondered aloud, "even you know that."

Knuckles face brightened up as if he had the greatest idea of the century. "Jewelry," he grinned, "she would love a necklace."

"Wow," Sonic sarcastically said, "not even I could think of that." Knuckles punched Sonic's arm, causing the blue hedgehog to fall over. "Oops," Knuckles smirked with no regrets. Sonic glared as he straightened himself up.

"Rouge would like that," Cream supported Knuckles. Knuckles draped his arm over Cream's shoulders and gave her a light squeeze, "See, Cream has better judgement than you." Sonic childishly stuck his tongue out at Knuckles. He would have opted for the middle finger but knew it wasn't appropriate around Cream.

Cream exasperatedly threw her free hand in the air while the other glued candy with frosting. "Why must you two continue to fight?" Both boys quieted after the observation. It wasn't fighting but Sonic was sure that Cream didn't understand that.

In the other room Amy stepped down from the ladder and observed her work. Christmas decorations coated the edges of the ceiling. Lights brightened up the room all around. She watched how Vanilla put on the finishing touches to the tree, making sure that one side didn't get more decorations than the other.

The pink hedgehog loved holiday decorations. She never went all out to decorate her old apartment. Christmas had never been a big deal to her before. She had only went to a few parties in the past. They were loud a crowded with teenagers. It was never like the kind of Christmas one would celebrate with a family.

Amy smiled fondly at a memory during Christmas time of when she was a child. She was a homeless kid who never understood religion or the holiday at the time. Public schools that didn't care about her personal life never pressed on about beliefs.

Walking alone during brutal nights, she was able to peek into windows and observe gift exchanges between family members. She saw how the faces of children her age would light up when the paper was torn away to reveal the gift inside.

The next day Amy had found lots of empty boxes. They appeared much like the ones other children had the day before. She picked the box with the picture she liked the most on it; she was very fond of the tricycle. Amy then proceeded to wrap the box up in discarded newspapers.

She waited a moment. The younger Amy was confused on why she felt no happiness or excitement like the other kids had. She then tore away the paper as quickly as she could but still didn't feel a thrill.

Amy shook her head to herself of her old childish ways. She remembered being even more short than she was now. Her quills were spiked back instead of handing at the sides of her head. She shivered at the thought of her old haircut. Most people, if they could actually see her younger self, would say that she looked quite cute. Amy disagreed with all of them.

Amy returned to examine her work. She stepped up the ladder one last time to make sure everything hanging was secure enough to not fall.

"You're such a perfectionist," Tails chuckled as she continued to tweak her already perfect work. To the fox, everything was already amazing. "Christmas isn't about everything being flawless," he lectured.

The pink hedgehog casted him a look and jumped down from her spot. She folded up the ladder and set it out of the way.

"What is is about then?" she tilted her head to the side curiously. Amy knew everyone had their own opinion. Some people were in it for just the gifts, which she didn't necessarily have a problem with, while others often reminisced on the time spent with their family.

"I think it's a way for people to show appreciation," Tails thoughtfully said. "Everyone becomes more kind during this season. We think of other people and what gift to give them. It would make sense that all of the gift giving is a way to show how much someone means to us."

"Valid point," Amy nodded in agreement.

Amy never bought any personal presents for anyone before. Now she found a long list of people she needed to give a gift. She wondered to herself for a brief moment, like she had multiple times before, if she should give Shadow a present. She couldn't imagine him getting a tree in his house and putting bright colors all over it.

"Have you started Christmas shopping?"

Tails nodded his head as he and Amy took a seat next to Charmy on the couch. He took out a string and began to feed it through popcorn. "I admit that there aren't a lot of stores here so I usually do it online."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows, "They deliver out here?"

Tails shrugged his shoulders. "Most companies actually don't, since the roads aren't easy to follow with this snow. If they won't make it out here I have them deliver it as far as they are willing to go and get it from there."

Amy hadn't thought of doing online shopping. She wasn't into computers like Tails. She didn't even own a computer. She hadn't used one since school which felt like forever ago.

Amy already got gifts for half of her friends. She was relieved that they were easier to shop for.

Vector was getting a new chain since she had noticed his old one began to chip. Charmy was getting an entire box full of 100 candy bars. Amy made that decision after he persistently complained about wanting candy and there not being enough around. Amy then got Rouge a bottle of Lavender perfume, hoping that the bat would find the scent lovely. Amy found a sewing kit in one store for Vanilla after seeing that she was low on threads. Lastly, she had bought Cream piano sheet music.

Amy hoped that sometime soon in her free time she would be able to play the piano herself. When she leisurely played, she preferred to be alone. The pink hedgehog knew that she would have to come to Cream's house to do so but also was certain that she was welcomed at any moment. Amy's fingers twitched at the idea of playing.

She hadn't played her last lesson with Cream since she had tutored her over the summer. Looking back on it, it seemed so far away. Amy could only wonder how far she had come in half a year. She felt as if she was on a very long vacation and didn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

* * *

><p>It was a week before Christmas and Cream was in a panic. "What am I going to do?" she cried aloud to Amy. The girl gave her a sympathetic smile and gently stroked her fur in a comforting manner.<p>

"I'm sure Tails isn't going to be picky on what you buy him this year," Amy reassured the girl. Amy could understand perfectly why Cream was so worried over Tails' present.

Amy knew it was hard to decide on what the boy wanted. Amy's gift for him was a new generic tool set. He could always use the back ups.

Cream had wanted something more deep. She specifically told Amy that she wanted her gift to say, "I like you more than as just a friend and I'm not really sure where we stand even though we kind of went on a couple dates but I don't want it to be obvious that you are almost my everything." Amy laughed and shook her head. Everyone around her was being blissfully swept away in young love.

Although most would assume Valentine's day to be the most romantic day of the year, Amy had to disagree. She found that holiday tacky and unrequited. Amy knew Christmas was a better use to express love. The colors of deep red and green gave anyone a warm feeling.

"How about a candle?" Amy suggested. Cream gave her a bland look as Amy laughed.

Amy rolled out shiny paper across the floor. She took the sewing box for Vanilla and began to wrap the paper. "I suck at this," Amy grumbled as the paper ripped multiple times and wrinkled.

"You do," Cream agreed as she looked at Amy's poor job. Both girls had agreed to help one another wrap presents; of course while making sure to keep their gifts for each other out of view.

"Did you get a gift for Sonic?" Cream questioned. She couldn't help a sly smiled form on her face. She knew of Amy's crush and it was becoming more and more hard for her to contain it.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "In fact," she turned her face away from Cream so the rabbit couldn't see her cheeks tint pink, "I did."

Amy had the hardest time figuring out what Sonic's present should be. Even though Sonic either slept on her couch or Tails', he still didn't own a house. He was a simple person who didn't care much for luxuries. It was also known that Sonic over time collected a lot of money, making him practically rich, so he could buy anything he wanted. Amy didn't realize what he would want until she joked to Cream that all Sonic did was eat and run.

"What is it?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

Cream pouted, not liking being left in the dark. "Well I hope whatever you got him he'll like it."

"Me too," Amy mumbled. She wondered if he was going to get her something. After everything he had done for her she felt in debt to him. Amy felt in debt to all of her friends. They made her feel loved when for most of her life she was alone.

* * *

><p>"So I'm assuming that for Christmas we are spending the day at Cream's house?" Sonic traced the trim of his cup of coffee with his finger. He wasn't a fan of the taste but drank it anyways. He assumed it was something that adults just did. They drank coffee, beer, and stayed away from sweets. He wasn't a fan of any of those things.<p>

"It's good that Vanilla planned Christmas this year," Tails looked up from his news article, "I don't want a repeat of last year." Both boys shuddered at the memory of last year's Christmas. "That was a disaster," Sonic agreed.

It had been at Rouge's house that time. Her and Team Chaotix took it upon themselves to be in charge of every detail. It was Charmy's idea to put actual candles on the tree instead of decorative lights. The tree had shot up into flames when Cream tried to get a closer look at it. Only half of the presents from under the tree were saved. It took hours to calm the young rabbit as she kept claiming that Christmas was ruined.

"Who let them be in charge in the first place?" Sonic asked. Team Chaotix had always been irresponsible. Rouge wasn't any better than them.

Tails shook his head, "I have no idea. But let's not make the same mistakes this year."

"What do you think you'll be doing tomorrow for Christmas Eve?" Sonic questioned before taking a sip of his bitter coffee. It was hot and slightly burned his throat. He wondered if it was supposed to be refreshing. He didn't feel anymore lively that morning.

Tails shrugged. He never did much on Christmas Eve. "Probably just visit a couple people. I won't likely hang out with the other guys since I'll be seeing them on Christmas anyways."

Sonic nodded his head, "I think I'll just be hanging around. I usually run out and look at the Christmas lights in the nearest city but I could never get there in this snow." Sonic sent a glare out the window. Piles of snow still covered the ground. No one bothered to plow the few roads that were used. Sonic found it a burden that he couldn't run as he pleased. The other day he tried running across Tails' lawn but got his foot caught in the snow and fell forward. The last time he had actually ran was circles around the couch. Sonic had gotten so dizzy he vomited.

"I'll never understand how someone lazy like you can run over 100 miles an hour," Tails grinned at Sonic, who grinned back.

A lot of people didn't understand that either. Sonic couldn't blame them. He, himself, had no idea why he had this ability. Speed wasn't genetic, he was the only one in his family who showed any remarkable talents.

Sonic remembered back in August when he had met a group of people with their own abilities. It was interesting how there were so many people at once casually using supernatural movements. It also made him realize the power of his own friends. Everyone was special in their very own way.

If Tails were to be a superhero, he would be known as a genius tech guy. Sonic snickered to himself at the thought of it. In a way, Tails was that. There have been multiple times in the past Tails had used his mind to help save the day.

Sonic would always use his quick reflexes against their villains. He could never answer why he ran or did a spin dash. Everything he did felt natural to him like breathing. He never became tired out from running too fast.

"Who knows," Sonic shrugged, "maybe I just pretend to be lazy."

The fox snorted at that statement and flipped through the newspaper. Tails was certain that most of the paper consisted of comics made by the locals. None of them were witty. He was disappointed that there was barely any real news to report. The main article went on about the continuous snow storm. A smaller one mentioned the disappearance of Eggman. He shook his head to himself as he read a theory that the man went off to live with his human family. Eggman didn't have a family.

"_No wonder why he is so bitter,_" Tails thought to himself. His eyes flickered up to Sonic across the table. The blue hedgehog's mind seemed lost in space. His green eyes were fixated on his half filled cup.

The fox knew that no one ever talked about where Sonic came from. It was because Sonic never mentioned it. It was the one of the few mysteries there were to his best friend.

Many years ago, Sonic had appeared out of nowhere. Tails was the very first person out of the whole town to see the blue hedgehog. Sonic saved him from getting attacked head-on by Eggman. Sonic purposely ignored any questions about where he came from or who he truly was other than his first name. Tails and everyone else eventually forgot to bombard Sonic with questions.

Every once in a while the thoughts would linger back into his mind. He never bothered to research Sonic. If his best friend never wanted to tell him then he would assume it's for the best. Or at least Tails hoped it was for the best.

It's a part of the nature of mundanes to keep secrets. Everyone did it for their own reasons. Some feared being ridiculed by the public. Others wanted to escape their past. Suppressing memories didn't make them disappear, it just held off their need of attention. They buried deep into the subconscious and waited to be dug up and trusted into one's life.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sonic interrupted Tails' personal thinking. He hadn't realized he was staring at Sonic with a solicitous expression.

"I-I wasn't looking at you," he stuttered and looked away. Sonic wasn't convinced but didn't bother to press further on the topic.

"I don't understand why you still read the paper," Sonic sighed as he stood up. He walked over to the kitchen sink and placed his mug down. He looked out the window and saw white. The outside world was blindingly bright. He could feel a small headache from it. Sonic shrugged his shoulders, "It's just mothers' gossip."

That was mostly what the paper was. It was ran by a teacher of the small school of barely 80 students. She chose all that went in the paper. Awhile ago there was even an article on Amy when she first came. Amy had never met anyone who had written for the news. Tails found it funny how inaccurately they described her.

To the parents, Amy was just a "city girl." Tails remembered chuckling as they had wagered how long she would be able to last in a small town. The fox could bet that if Amy had actually read it, she would give them a piece of her mind. It would be interesting to watch a young adult attack old mothers.

It was easy to judge anyone in this town. Everyone knew you and you knew everyone. People came but they never left. Tails pondered about how strange that was. He wondered what could it possibly be of this small place that actually drew people in. The only interesting thing he could think of were the chaos emeralds.

He was starting to become more curious as to what they we doing every day. Tails checked his readings often and found that the power in every emerald is continuing to increase by little amount. It may not be much now but he feared what will happen in the long run.

All that there is left is for him to wait it out like everyone else.

* * *

><p>Amy lightly tapped on the front door of a lonely house. She looked at the snow on the ground and saw multiple different footprints there. She wondered to herself who else had visited Shadow.<p>

"Come in," Shadow commanded from the inside. Amy had a feeling that he some how knew it was her. She never questioned him. The dark hedgehog worked in odd ways.

Amy stepped inside and stomped her feet to brush off all the snow that stuck to her. "Merry Christmas," she called down the hall as she hung up her layers.

It was finally Christmas Eve and Amy had to pay Shadow a visit. She wasn't sure if he had any other plans this holiday. Shadow didn't seem like the type to sit next to a fireplace and chug eggnog.

Amy snorted at the sight of him reading more files. "All you ever do is work," she sighed. She took a seat across from Shadow, waiting for him to give her his full attention.

"Work is always required," Shadow simply replied. He, for once, was actually looking at papers that did not directly involve Eggman. The dark hedgehog wasn't ready to show Amy, but he had gotten an anonymous letter about Sonic. It was handwritten in blue ink. He could easily guess by the way the letters were rounded and curved that it was written by a girl. Shadow didn't see it as any type of threat.

Amy raised an eyebrow when she noticed how Shadow specifically angled the letter away from Amy's point of view. She didn't feel any offense, knowing completely well that Shadow had many of his own secrets.

"Anyways," Amy cleared the silence, "I need your help for something."

Shadow curiously tilted his head to the side. "Why me?" he wondered aloud. He wondered if it was a thing for hedgehogs to seek their own kind when needing help. Neither Sonic nor Amy seemed to have a problem coming to Shadow when they needed him.

"You're the only person who can help me," Amy shrugged. Amy knew that Shadow would say yes, even if he was unaware of what she wanted from him. It was a weird way that Shadow worked. He was definitely not a people person but the pink hedgehog would find ways to make him more involved in life.

"Fine," Shadow sighed of boredom, "what is it you want me to do?"

"You know your rocket-shoes-thingies?" Amy lightly kicked Shadow's left shoe under the table. He glared at her. It didn't hurt but he wasn't a fan of being touched without his consent. Shadow nodded his head without bothering to lecture Amy on the correct term for his skates.

"Do you think that the bottom of them could cause snow to melt?"

"Well it is fire so I would assume so."

Amy clasped her hands together. "That's great!" she exclaimed. "Then we could get Sonic his present." Shadow almost wanted to laugh loudly. Of course this had to be about Sonic. He pitied the girl that her attention was locked on the blue idiot so much.

"If you don't mind me asking," Shadow knew she wouldn't, "what is his gift?"

Amy grinned. She was excited as to what Sonic would think of her gift to him. She knew that Sonic wasn't materialistic so she didn't buy him anything. Amy was also aware of Sonic's need to run. Shadow was thinking the same thing. He gave her an impressed look when he caught on to what she was asking of him.

He stood up and folded the letter away. "Well then let's go."

* * *

><p>"I didn't know that you two were such good friends," Sonic joked when he saw Amy and Shadow standing in the doorway to Tails' home. Shadow rolled his eyes while Amy couldn't hide the big grin on her face.<p>

"Shut up, Sonic," she said in a rather perky attitude. Sonic furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Okay," he said in a mildly confused tone. "Seriously, what is goin-"

"Are you free?" Amy cut him off. Sonic nodded his head. He was alone at Tails' place. The fox had gone out and everyone else seemed to be busy on their own. "Come with us then," Amy pulled Sonic across the lawn by his wrist. The blue hedgehog barely had time to close the door behind him.

Amy then continued to guide Sonic with her hands covering his eyes. She was much shorter than him, causing Sonic to almost fall over her multiple times.

Shadow snorted at the scene of the klutz leading Sonic. "Well this is interesting," he noted out loud with a smirk. Amy laughed humorlessly at his comment while Sonic agreed with the darker hedgehog.

It wasn't long until Amy had stopped Sonic. "You know," Sonic said as she pulled her hand away, "getting kidnapped wasn't really on my agenda today."

Sonic looked around him. He quickly noticed a difference in his surroundings. Sonic for once was not standing on snow. His feet felt light over the ground. He looked ahead and saw an open path that seemed to have gone farther than his naked eye could see.

He compared the ground level to how high the snow had piled up. It almost went up to Amy's knees.

"Merry Christmas," Amy said with her arms opened so she could gesture to the opened space. Shadow didn't share her enthusiasm but held a sincere expression towards Sonic.

"What exactly is this?" Sonic spoke slowly as he looked up and down the trail.

"I know you've been feeling kind of trapped lately," Amy explained, "and since everyone else in this town is too lazy to shovel, I had Shadow melt twenty miles worth of snow. He was the only person who could do it fast enough."

Out of nowhere, Sonic took off. Amy jumped as a gust of wind hit her, almost knocking her over. Amy stood there in silence with Shadow for a short moment. "You're welcome," she said, slightly confused. Shadow had a smirk on his face as he turned the other way. Amy looked as well.

In the far distance Sonic was approaching. "Wow," Amy commented, "he already ran the whole thing."

"Finally," Sonic groaned as he stopped in front of them. "I am so sick of sitting around all day." Sonic cracked his neck and knuckles. Sonic stilled to look back and forth between the two other hedgehogs.

It seemed like a while as Sonic's expression became more concentrated. "Hmm," he hummed in wonder. Amy blushed slightly when Sonic locked eyes with her. She could only wonder what went on in his head. He was always weird.

Amy wondered if there was some way she could fall into a toxic pit to gain a superpower. She hoped for the ability to read minds. It would help her to determine if he was who she needed.

"W-what is it?" Amy stammered. She felt pressured under his gaze.

Sonic let a grin spread across his face. "It's funny," he observed, "that this is the first time we all are actually together as a group. I know you two are sort of friends and Shadow is my friend, but all of us never hung out in a trio."

Shadow didn't bother to protest when Sonic had called him his friend. He realized it was time to finally give in. Sonic the Hedgehog was his friend. He was the first friend he had in a long time.

Shadow then knew that it was also Sonic who brought him his current life. Without Sonic, everyone would still fear him. They'd think of him as a monster. Or they'd just use him when they needed his abilities. Without Sonic, Shadow would have no sense in his life.

It was weird how the current season could reconnect all the gratitude Shadow had.

"I guess it is," Amy agreed quietly. She looked over to Shadow, "Is there something wrong with that?" She smiled when Shadow shook his head. "Then we should do it more often. I don't like the way you barricade yourself away from us." Shadow glared at her. "And stop doing that after almost everything we say."

Sonic laughed and draped his arm across her shoulders. He let his other arm do the same to Shadow, who pushed it off right away. "This is what I like about Christmas." He shuffled one foot over the mud. "There are still people out there who don't use it just for materials."

Amy, with an intensified blush, stepped away to face him. "It was never about the gifts."

"People tend to forget that." Sonic ran a hand through his quills. His palm began to sweat slightly. Speaking from the heart wasn't something he did much of.

Shadow could sense Sonic's awkward feeling and decided to steer the conversation in a new direction. "Wanna race?" he suggested.

Sonic smugly looked at Shadow, "Well if you're up for getting your butt kicked." The blue hedgehog quickly pulled Amy up on his back, not wanting to leave her behind, and ran ahead. Amy looked back to see Shadow expertly catching up to them.

The air forcefully pushed at her face. She squinted her eyes at the bitter cold. Even in the chilling conditions, Amy completely understood why Sonic would miss this. She felt more alive as her heart rate sped up. No car could ever drive nearly as fast as Sonic could run. A rollercoaster was just a simple bike ride compared to this.

She tightened her arms just enough so she couldn't choke Sonic. Amy closed her eyes and let her face bury into Sonic's back. She wondered to herself if he could feel her eyelashes flutter but doubted it. She was still slightly amazed that it was cold enough to force Sonic to wear a light jacket.

Sonic taunted Shadow, making sure he kept at least one step ahead of his competition at all times. He laughed as Shadow sent him dirty looks. "Problem?" he asked with a smirk.

Amy inwardly smiled as her cheek felt his entire back vibrate with every chuckle. She loved his laugh. It sounded preciously lively to her. It was also very contagious. When he laughed she just wanted to laugh as well, even if there is nothing to laugh about.

"Merry Christmas," she mumbled. Sonic looked over his shoulder at. She felt her heart soar as he gave her a quick wink. Amy smiled as a truly happy feeling swirled through her. It truly was a merry Christmas.


	23. Stars Brightly Shining

**Chapter: Stars Brightly Shining**

* * *

><p>Cream cracked her eyes open slightly. Her bedroom was flooded with the morning's light. She smiled to herself, knowing that this was a Christmas morning. The air felt different in the spirit of the holiday. Nothing could ever go wrong on this day, disincluding last year's Christmas.<p>

The rabbit pushed away her covers and slipped on her slippers. She opened her bedroom door and found that the house was still silent. She knew her mother wasn't awake yet. She usually would be polite and allow for Vanilla to sleep in, but today those rules didn't apply.

"Mother!" Cream shouted as she jumped up onto Vanilla's bed. The mattress shook, causing the older rabbit to wake up. Vanilla jumped slightly in surprise. Cream giggled at her mother's reaction.

"Good morning," Cream greeted in a calmer manner. Vanilla stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes while muttering a response.

"Can we please open our presents now?" Cream begged. She knew that if she couldn't get Vanilla out of bed now, she wont be able to for another few hours. The older rabbit nodded her head and rolled out of bed.

Receiving Christmas presents were not as special to Vanilla as they were to other people. She cared more about giving them to Cream. Vanilla found that her only daughter was everything to her. She had no one else blood related to her. Vanilla felt that she had created a new legacy to live on through Cream.

There was once a time when Vanilla was about the same age as Cream. She was barely a teenager at the age of 14. Her entire family lived in poverty to the point where her parents couldn't support 8 children. Vanilla didn't remember the last face she saw of her family when each sibling was kicked out of the house, herself included.

She had promised herself to give the very best to her future child from that point on. Vanilla wasn't expecting to become pregnant as soon as she became of legal age. The father was another rabbit she had barely known for two years.

Vanilla hated everything about him. She hated the way he wickedly smiled when he said goodbye to her for the last time. He was a selfish man who walked out when he thought that he would have no personal gain in having a child to a desperate woman. Vanilla couldn't even picture the color of his narrow eyes anymore.

The rabbit had felt abandoned and lonely. She thought that the everyone in world left her and the baby inside of her pregnant belly alone. Vanilla was wrong. Everyone she had known only turned their back on her because they suffered greed. Vanilla knew that the baby still had a mother.

She eventually ran away to Emerald Town. There she found many people who were willing to help a clueless, uneducated girl finally do something right. Vanilla poured her heart and soul into making her daughter a pleasant woman. She wanted Cream to make friends so she would never be alone.

Vanilla would do anything for her daughter. The rabbit would never throw her daughter out into the world alone. She would give Cream everything she had. It wasn't about her own personal gain, but the point to furnish the younger rabbit with the most beautiful life possible.

Cream had pulled Vanilla all the way down the stairs. Both of their feet lightly padded over the carpet. The sight of a few presents cluttered under the tree was joyous for the young rabbit. Even though she knew it was all the work of Vanilla, it felt like some sort of enchantment had caused for the shiney presents to appear overnight.

"Which present would you like to open first?" Vanilla cheerfully asked as she took a seat on the ground next to the tree. Cream plopped down next to her mother.

Cream pointed to a small bag. A picture with a happy Santa Claus waving was printed on the front. Dark green tissue paper stuck up from inside. Cream picked it up and gently pulled out the excess paper. Her face brightened up with she saw the gift. Vanilla smiled at her daughter simultaneously.

This small family worked in a simple system; if Cream is happy then so is Vanilla.

"How did you know I wanted this?" Cream gasped. She delicately pulled out a simple necklace by it's silver chain. A single charm of Cream's birthstone shimmered under the tree lights.

"A mother always knows," Vanilla slyly commented. She wouldn't mention that she also had help from Amy. Cream could easily guess that the other hedgehog gave Vanilla some sort of help as she always did.

There weren't a lot of gifts under the tree. Some kids counted up to twenty gifts. Other ones who grew up with wealthy parents got countless amounts of items from their parents. The two rabbits didn't care about quantity. A number couldn't mark sentimentality.

Cream never worried about getting more than the next person. As long as it meant something, it was important to Cream.

* * *

><p>"Sonic! Tails!" Amy called through the door as she continuously knocked on it. They had agreed to go to Cream's house together and Amy didn't want to be a minute late. She was looking forward to a big Christmas dinner with her friends. Amy had never sat at a feast before and wondered if the food was better just for the special occasion.<p>

Tails opened the door and ushered Amy inside. He current had a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Sonic was sitting on the couch tieing on his shoes. "I thought that the girls were supposed to take a long time," Amy remarked. Tails rolled his eyes while he marched up the stairs.

"You can't rush this," Sonic waved his hand infront of his entire body. Amy laughed and took a seat next to him. "Leave it to the fastest hedgehog in the world to take his time," she nudged his shoulder. Sonic shrugged and leaned back further into the chair. "I can't help it."

Amy stood up to idly walk around the room. She skimmed over the multiple books stacked on top of one another. Amy then looked over multiple picture frames lined up on the top of the bookshelf. She recognized the different faces of her friends. Some of the photos were recognizably older. In one picture Sonic was about the same height as Tails. In another one Cream was seen with some of her teeth missing. Amy smiled at the scene of everyone looking at least two years younger.

The pink hedgehog noticed one picture seemed out of place. There was just a single girl with a soft smile. She seemed to be looking directly at the camera. It sent shivers down Amy's spine how she felt like the girl was looking into her own eyes.

Amy remembered seeing another portrait of the girl before. She had passed a photo of the green girl in the hallway upstairs a while ago. She couldn't recall anyone mentioning the girl in the past.

"Hey, Sonic," Amy captured his attention, "Who is this?" She held up the frame so he could see the picture. Amy noticed the way his eyes flickered over it. His ears that were once perked lowered themselves. She pursed her bottom lip and looked back at the picture.

Amy felt Sonic's presence before he took the item from her hands. He glanced up at the stairs, making sure that Tails wasn't approaching too soon. "This is Cosmo," he whispered, just so Amy could hear him, "she was a friend of ours." He set the photo back down. "She's gone now."

Amy was smart enough to understand what he meant by "gone." As time went on people just became memories. "Would you mind me asking..?" Amy glanced up at him, trying not to offend the thoughts of Cosmo.

"She had sacrificed herself," Sonic swallowed, "to save us. All of us, actually. The entire planet. Yet no one knows of her existence." His tone hardened with anger. He closed his eyes and, with a sigh, let his negative feelings escape him. "She actually left something behind for Tails. It was a seed."

"A seed?"

"Well her ancestors were plants, making her a plant species. When she- er- died," Sonic coughed, "she basically evolved into a tree, starting off as a little seed. Tails planted her right next to a little pond where no construction could bother her."

Amy thought back to the summer. When they were preparing the house for Amy, Sonic had taken up all of her time. They had spent the night underneath a tree right next to the water. Amy remembered how perfect the tree curved and formed without a single mark on it. The tree distinctly had a calming aura.

Sonic, somehow, had read her thoughts. "That was Cosmo."

Both hedgehogs pulled away from the shelf when they heard the creak of the stairs. "Don't say anything," Sonic murmured without meeting her eyes. Amy mentally nodded her head as both looked up towards Tails.

"Ready?" Tails asked as he headed towards the door.

"We were waiting on you, buddy," Sonic clasped his hand over Tails' shoulder. "Well then let's go," Tails walked out first, "I'm starving."

The walk to Cream's house was quiet. The crunch of snow was comforting to the peace. Amy breathed in the frosty air. She always thought that each season had its own smell. The scent of winter made her feel more alert than drowsy.

It was still early in the evening when the sun began to turn in. By the time they reached the house it was almost completely dark. A glow of lights came through the window. Amy didn't bother knocking when she entered.

Rouge and Knuckles already occupied the living room. A shiny necklace hung around the bat's neck. Amy assumed that it was new. Knuckles had a smug smile, knowing that this year he gave Rouge the best gift.

"Where's the team?" Sonic asked as he pushed his way between the couple. He received an annoyed look from the pair. Sonic laughed them off. He took pride in bothering his friends.

As if on cue, Charmy stumbled into the room, followed by Vector and Espio. The trio sported Santa hats, although Espio looked less than enthusiastic to be wearing three dropped more bright presents underneath the tree.

"I am ready to eat," Sonic announced. He dragged Tails and Knuckles with him to the dining room. The table was set with multiple sorted foods. Vanilla took a seat at the head of the table, with Vector on the other side. Everyone else took their respective seats as well.

Sonic reached forward to be the first to serve himself. Amy kicked his shin under the table. She sent him a look, making Sonic retract him hand. He winced while rubbing his injury. Vanilla, with well manners, took the bowl of mashed potatoes and began passing it around the table clockwise, leaving Sonic last to get his share. It was custom for who cooked to meal to also eat first.

Amy glanced towards the main door multiple times during the meal. Her eyes also wavered out the window. Yesterday she had, with Vanilla's permission, invited Shadow to join them on Christmas. There was even a plate set up next to Rouge. It remained untouched, patiently waiting for someone to take it.

The pink hedgehog wasn't expecting much from him. Even though he tolerated her, it was still clear that he wasn't a people person. How long could a person go on alone? There is such a thing as a lonely Shadow. On the contrary, Sonic did bother him often.

It was strange how the relationship between the two boys worked. They acted and looked as opposites. Sonic was a people person. He was always hanging around someone. Amy absently wondered if that made Sonic needy. The blue hedgehog had told her of the times when Shadow would yell at him that he wished to be left alone.

If someone were to look closer, they would see how the two might actually have a perfect friendship. Both hedgehogs loved going fast. Sonic ran while Shadow skated over the land. They rarely spoke about themselves but knew so much information on one another.

Amy wondered if she will ever find out the big secret about Sonic from Shadow. She determined that no one else knew. Not even Tails peeped a single thing about Sonic's past. Tails wasn't as deceiving as Shadow. The fox would atleast give her a decent reason as of why he kept it a secret.

The pink girl tried to push those thoughts away as she chewed on her food. The matter wasn't urgent to her and didn't need to be fretted over during the time.

"I don't know about you guys," Sonic set down his silverware, "but I'm stuffed." Everyone gaped at his already empty plate. Cream herself had eaten barely half of the food in front of her. Sonic, even though he claimed to be full, reached forward for another serving.

"How is it that you can eat twice your size?" Rouge gaped.

He shrugged, "I get that question all the time."

Amy grinned at him, which he returned. She in fact had asked him that a countless amount of times. Sonic knew that the only people who were used to his antics were Tails and Amy. He was perplexed on how his friends that had known him for years still questioned him.

"I take it as a compliment," Vanilla gave Sonic a warm smile, "it means that you enjoy my cooking." That was an understatement. Everyone loved Vanilla's cooking. Her food never came from boxes shipped for over 100 miles. Amy loved the strong tastes that it always held.

It was natural the the table to later divide into their own conversations. Team Chaotix bragged about how they saved a small Chao from a tree. Knuckles bursted their bubbles when he argued that all Chaos in the area had the ability to fly.

Tails, almost as usual, asked Amy a lot of questions about her old life. He liked how easy she opened up to him. It made him relax knowing that he had another friend that was comfortable around him.

"Well there's a mall Santa that I one time tried to sit on," Amy thoughtfully recited her childhood. She fell quiet for a moment as her face heated up. "He wasn't a mall Santa," she mumbled, still feeling embarrassed from the event that happened 10 years ago. Cream began to laugh, almost choking on her food while doing so.

"What did he say?" Tails pressed on.

"'Someone get this ratty kid off of me.'" Sonic smirked, "That's our little, deranged Amy." The other hedgehog glared with her face even more pink. "It was a true misunderstanding," she defended. Amy seemed to have a lot of those.

"What about you Sonic?" Amy asked. Sonic paused, with a fork midway to his mouth. "What about me?" Sonic played dumb. Amy rolled her eyes, "Your childhood Christmas."

He was silent for a moment. His green eyes stared at Amy over the table. They were distant. It was as if he was looked through Amy, past her and through the window.

"Okay," he finally said. Sonic didn't see it, but Tails' eyes widened instantly. The fox stopped eating and looked at Sonic. Everyone else at the table slowly quieted once they realized what Sonic was talking about. Tails kept glancing between Sonic and Amy. He wasn't envious that his best friend finally decided to mention something from when he was a kid when a girl he had known for only half a year asked. He was more shocked.

Tails could easily tell by the way Amy looked at Sonic that she had adored him. He was smart enough to understand body language. His knowledge never applied to Sonic but he wondered if his older friend unconsciously mirrored how she felt. There's no one else he had ever opened up to so quickly before.

"Let's see," Sonic pressed his index finger to his bottom lip as he thought of an unheard tale to tell. All of his tales were untold. He wanted to wince and take back what he started. His thoughts immediately went to his beloved princess. His hand back to shake. "_No_," his mind snapped. Sonic forced himself to not think of Sally.

He didn't feel any better thinking of his siblings. He had left both Manic and Sonia behind, not telling them a single thing. His mother, Queen Aleena, was the only person alive that knew where he was. His own mother allowed him to run away from all of his problems.

If anyone were to not bring him much pain it would be his father. Sonic's dad seemed like a dream. Growing up, he always felt bitter towards the king. Being the youngest son he would never take on the throne, yet Sonic was put under intense pressure. His father never cared for him the way Sonic imagined fathers never had the chance to meet a fatherly figure other than Cryssi's father. He was a raggedy old man who smelled of prunes, Sonic doubt that that was all there is to a decent father.

Sonic remembered how the holiday's were in a castle. The parties were huge. Most of the guests either came for business or were distant cousins. As a child, Sonic actually _relished _Christmas. He loved how each made spent the entire December running around trying to decorate every inch of wall. The tree was so big that it needed a ladder to place the tree topper. His siblings were nicer to him as he was to them. Something about Christmas made everyone change for the better.

"Christmas as a kid was," Sonic mused, "amazing." His voice held wonder as he spoke the word, it was as if he was witnessing magic itself. "I had my mom with me, and a dad," he didn't mention his older brother and sister. "Anyways, we had a huge family, so big I didn't even know all of the members of my family. All of them would stay at our house for the holidays. It got kind of crowded so it always felt like a party then. But a few days before Christmas we would have an actual party. A lot of my parents friends were there."

"Do you guys know about the whole mistletoe rule?" Sonic asked. Everyone nodded their heads. Amy had never actually seen anyone kiss under the mistletoe, but she heard of how romantic it is during Christmas. "Well during the party I was standing in the doorway, unaware that there was a mistletoe right above me," Sonic began scratching the back of his head, "and then one of my aunts was suddenly next to me."

Everyone at the table cringed, already knowing where the story was going. "No way," Knuckles hysterically choked with laughter.

"It happened so fast," Sonic traumatically said, "I tried turning my head away but there was no escaping it. My first kiss was with my aunt."

"How romantic," Rouge sarcastically remarked.

He didn't mention how the rest of the party was one of the best parties he had ever gone to.

* * *

><p><em>"Are you okay?" Manic looked down at his brother, who was sulking. Sonic had a sick expression and was slightly green. Over his lips was bright red lipstick. Manic raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation. "Don't go under the mistletoe," Sonic managed to say.<em>

_Before Manic could respond anything their sister appeared with a young squirrel at her side. "Why are you guys talking about mistletoes?" __"That's classified," Sonic quipped. Sonia shook her head at her younger brother but didn't bother to continue the conversation._

_"Well I just came to tell you that mom and dad want all of us out on the balcony. There's some people they want to introduce us to," Sonia nodded her head towards Sally, "you can come too."_

_Sonic watched the back of his sister's head as she led the way. Even though she was still very young, she acted mature. Her shoulders were never slouched like a normal kid's. She held the expected look of a princess; her quills were perfectly brushed back and held down by a petit crown, she wore a light dress that barely brushed the floor, and she elegantly smiled at everyone who passed her. __He wondered how a girl could go from playtime to princess in two seconds._

_Sonic looked over at Sally, who was giggling uncontrollably beside him. She reached up and brushed away the kiss stain on his face. He grinned at her to hide his embarrassment. "I think the right word for you is," Sally thought for a moment, "'ladies' man'." Sonic snorted at the comment._

_He stepped outside to the warm evening. The small kingdom never experienced chilly winter weather. Only once had snow fallen for no more than five minutes, or so legend says. _

_The sun was currently setting as a couple stars already appeared on the opposite side of the sky. A burnt orange trailed behind the sun before fading into midnight blue. The air was thick among the adults as they clicked wine glasses._

_In the center of the attention were two older hedgehogs, the king and queen. Queen Aleena looked more small and elegant as she clung onto her husband's arm. Her facial features were greatly softer than the King. _

_"Sonic! Manic!" she motioned for her sons to come closer to her. Sonic, straightened his back when he saw his father look down at him. He was always pressured by the king to act proper when in the presence of the colleagues. It made the child feel more like a robot._

_The two sons stood next to Queen Aleena. She was safe. Her warm aura spread around the people as if it was the air itself. It made sense why people always struggled to be in her presence. If you were on the good side of the Queen, you were set for life._

_Sonia stood on the other side of the king. He put his large hand over her thin shoulder. It seemed he had a soft spot for women. Sonic had never seen his father nag at his sister. _

_Cameras rapidly flashed at the royal family. Sonic smiled even though he was almost certain that he was blinded. People applauded the royal. They were the perfect image to the kingdom. Commoners could never live up to their standards._

_A cat stepped away from the crowd. He wore a bright silk shirt. His plaid suit jacket didn't match his brown pants. A recorder dangled from a chain around his neck as he rapidly wrote in a small notebook. _

_"Queen Aleena! Queen Aleena!" his voice almost screeched over the crowd. __The delicate lady looked over him. She gave him a welcoming smile. The cat bravely took another step closer. He ignored the sour look the king gave him._

_"What are the Christmas plans for the Royal Family this year?"_

_The queen thoughtfully tilted her head. "Well," she cleared her throat, "I assume that we would be doing what most families do on Christmas." Aleena always hoped for a normal Christmas. The king and queen always had important matters to deal with whenever there wasn't a gathering. She hated having to leave her children by themselves every year but found that it had to be done. _

_Only villagers who knew what the roles of the king and queen actually were understood that there was never a real break. Parties were only done for publicity. The king and queen slept for exactly 5 hours each night. A schedule was planned down to the very second of each day._

_Sonic wondered to himself how such a clean woman could lie so easily. He was always told that lying was bad. His mother always had a way of knowing whether of not Sonic told a lie. Even if it was a little white lie, Aleena would be sure that before bed Sonic sat for ten minutes with a bar of soap stuck between his teeth._

_Hours carried on with photos and questions. The king shook hands with multiple men. Each wore perfectly ironed suits and gold rings. Sonic wondered how his father knew so many people. He didn't like the way all of them examined him. Some looked impress as others were bored. _

_The small blue hedgehog drifted away from the crowed. He wandered the halls alone until he found a large empty room. He assumed that it was another extra. The far wall was lined up with windows that stretched from the ceiling all the way to the ground. He sat on the floor next to one window. He let his chin rest on the sill._

_The was now dark. It almost looked black compared to the way the moon glowed. Stars glittered in the sky, forming images left to the mind. Sonic could never remember all of the constellations he was told._

_He looked back as the door creaked and a seam of light fell across the room and over him. Sally peeked her head in from behind the door. Sonic wondered how his best friend always knew where to find him. It was as if she tracked him every day. Or maybe she just knew him that well. _

_Sally closed the door behind her. Both kids were enclosed in the darkness of the room._

_"What are you doing?" she asked as she sat next to him._

_Sonic shrugged and continued to look out of the window. "I'm just bored," he scrunched his nose._

_"Looking at the stars aren't boring," she sighed as her eyes looked in wonder at the sky. Sonic noticed how often Sally seemed to get lost in gazing at sceneries. He didn't understand how someone could spend such time doing so._

_"You only think that because you actually know all the constellations," Sonic pointed out. It was true. Unlike Sonic, Sally had no trouble remembering anything about the stars. She was far ahead of him in her learnings. _

_Sally shook her head, "There's more to them than just that."_

_"Like what?" Sonic challenged. _

_"My mother tells me that when a person dies they go to the sky."_

_"You mean heaven?"_

_"No," Sally sighed. "Maybe it is heaven or not. My mother said that after a person dies they become an angel. We can see all of the angels in the sky and they can see us."_

_"Sonia said that they were made of hot gas."_

_Sally tilted her head and looked a Sonic. She carried a disappointed expression. "Do you not carry any faith?"_

_Unlike Sally, Sonic never thought of death. He never thought of blindly believing either. He felt so young that it wasn't something children worried about. He never even understood it himself._

_"Well then I have an idea. After I die I want you to look in the sky for me. And I'll look down on you and watch over you," Sonic proposed. Sally looked at him in awe. Something so innocent from the little boy meant the world to her._

_"Thank you, Sonic."_

* * *

><p>"Sonic."<p>

"Sonic."

"Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog jumped at the voice. He suddenly found himself back at the dinner table in a bright room. Everyone else other than Amy left the table and instead crowded into the living. He hadn't realized that he had zoned out.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked him. She concernly looked down at him as she pushed in her chair.

"I'm fine," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. His voice was more of a mumble and didn't convince Amy. She slowly nodded her head and turned away from him. Once she realized he hadn't moved she gazed at him once more.

It was another weird thing she found Sonic rarely doing. He seemed to be in his own world. She wondered if he was being different or his true self.

"Sonic," she said with small grief, "seriously, are you feeling alright."

His head snapped up at the tone of her voice. For once he understood that she was actually troubled over him. He didn't understand why, but he liked it. He didn't like how easily he could make her upset, but more the fact that he held such an impact on her.

Sonic stood up and gave her a wide smile. "I'm great."

"Good." Amy returned the smile and pulled him with her towards the living room, "Now come on! It's time for the presents."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so I have a legitimate question for the people who like to comment and follow and read and etc. So far the story has been a slow build up to the climax. What's left of the story is a quick "push" to the climax, the climax, the resolution, and then the epilogue. That means that there will roughly be 30 chapters. My question is would you want me over the next month month and a half to write out the rest of the story with all of my free time and then post a chapter every two week or just keep writing a chapter, post, writing a chapter, post, etc. for the rest? **

**If no one really gives an input I will just write the rest and then post every chapter every two weeks on a selected day.**


	24. Locked Up

**I JUST NOTICED THAT MY LAST CHAPTER WAS POSTED JAN 7! THAT WAS WHEN THE PROLOGUE WAS POSTED ONE YEAR AGO! IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR GOING STRONG WITH THIS STORY AND I'M SORRY THAT I DON'T SAY THIS ENOUGH BUT EVERY SINGLE COMMENT JUST INSPIRES ME TO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD SO MUCH SO THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE FAVORITE, REVIEWER, SUBSCRIBER, AND READER! ! ! !**

**So this chapter has been foreshadowed VERY lightly a couple chapters ago and there's another factor that helps explain it that happened waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay at the beginning of the story so I'll refresh some memories since those details were posted so long ago it would be hard to remember them.**

**1) "****_Rouge rolled her eyes. She wasn't surprised that he was unaware of what time it was. 'It's Christmas season,' she spoke as if he was the most oblivious person in the world, 'no one wants to hear annoying Eggman business at this time. Plus you know how Sonic gets at this time of year.' Shadow himself never celebrated Christmas. He wasn't particularly religious and did not think much of it. He was well aware that many other people who weren't religious such as himself still participated in this holiday that he did not put any effort in._**

**_Shadow remained quiet as he did not want to go in further detail on the behavior of Sonic during the winter season. Everyone didn't really mention it. They all got used to it after two years. Sonic never said anything about it so they didn't pry."_**

**2) So we all know about the famous death back in the prologue. If it were to be added up, you'll find that Sally Acorn had died in the winter. Coincidence? I think not.**

**Chapter: Locked Up**

* * *

><p>"You never came," Amy stated as soon as Shadow opened up his front door. He raised an eyebrow at her and folded his arms over his chest. "Christmas was two weeks ago," Shadow stepped out of the way to let her in, "you're just now bothering me about this?"<p>

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. Her hopes for him showing up to Christmas weren't too high, but she at least held some expectations to him. Amy believed that somewhere in Shadow he didn't want to be alone. He tolerated her and Sonic easily. It made her wonder what was different with everyone else. She knew all of her other friends would openly accept him.

"You know I'm not going to apologize," Shadow informed her. He felt no obligation towards the girl. As much as he regret to know that he held respect towards her, he wasn't comfortable with all of her friends. He was sure that over half of them feared him. Shadow preferred to be feared than to be seen weak.

He let Amy trail behind him into the kitchen. She Sat up on the counter, letting her feet swing back and forth. She smiled as Shadow leaned into his fridge to find her a snack. Even though he rarely spoke with much enthusiasm, Amy still knew he had the potential to be good-natured.

"I wouldn't expect you to," her smile faded, "expect you to say sorry, that is."

Shadow pulled out a package of cubed cheese and handed it to Amy. She tore it open and plopped the small treat into her mouth. She chewed slowly on it, savoring the taste.

"Good," Shadow leaned against the counter next to her. "So is there any specific reason as to why you came to visit me?" He wasn't asking to be rude in any way. Usually when Amy came to him, she had a purpose.

Amy shrugged. "Not really, I just got bored." She took another bite of cheese. "Well Sonic _was_ supposed to come over today. We always watch cheesy movies on Thursday. He never showed up. I called Tails but he didn't say anything. Everyone else is busy with their own things so I was pretty much alone."

"You figured I'm not busy with my own life?"

Amy gave Shadow a blank look. She never thought about what Shadow did when he was alone. She usually assumed that he just read all day. Now that she thought about it, Shadow didn't seem like the kind of person who wasted the day away.

"I wonder," she thoughtfully stared ahead, "what do you do all day?"

Shadow looked down at Amy. "It's not really a secret," he murmured, "so I guess I trust you enough to tell you."

"Is it about Sonic?" Amy suddenly remembered her deal with Shadow. Six months ago he told her he wanted her to prove herself to him. Shadow never said how to but promised that when she had he would tell her something important about Sonic. It was something that no one else knew.

Shadow briefly smirked as he shook his head, "No. It's not that." He sighed and ran a hand through his quills. It was an action Amy had never seen Shadow do before. Was he feeling anxious? A feeling didn't fit well on the cool hedgehog.

"C'mon," Shadow took Amy's snack away from her, "there's a couple things I want to show you."

The stairs creaked under their feet. Amy froze at the top of the steps. It hadn't crossed her mind that she had never seen the upper level to Shadow's home before. The hallway matched the plain theme as to the rest of the house. The walls were a crisp white. They looked fresh like the teeth out of a toothpaste commercial. She knew not to expect much. His bedroom probably didn't even have a dresser.

Amy doubted that he wanted to show her his bedroom. Shadow wouldn't give her nervous glances like a normal teenage boy. It reminded Amy that she was surrounded by adults, or the matured at least.

Shadow opened up the door at the very end of the hallway. It swung into a dark room. Amy looked over his shoulder at the black curtains covered the windows.

The black hedgehog stepped further into the room. He switched on the light switch, revealing the inside. Amy was shocked that the room was very cluttered. It didn't make sense to Amy for Shadow to be a hoarder.

Amy walked over the carpet to a piled of stacked boxes. She unfolded one of them. Amy gently reached into the box and pulled out a blue headband. Inside the box were perfectly folded dresses colored in the same blue as the headband. A thin layer of dust coated the small outfit.

Amy glanced back at Shadow, who carried a distant look. "Uh," she couldn't think of what to say. "_Is Shadow a cross dresser?_" Amy furrowed her eyebrows at the thought. She shook her head as she placed the headband gently back into its place.

She took another box and sat down with it. Shadow crouched down on the opposite side of the box. Amy opened it to a heap of what appeared to be school supplies. Shadow reached into the box and picked up an old notebook. The spine was cracked multiple times and the paper was yellowed.

"You don't really know anything about how I used to be," Shadow fondly flipped through the notebook, "even though everyone else does. Expect this to be one of the only times that I talk about it." Amy mutely flipped through the work. On most of the papers "Shadow" was written at the top, rarely she saw some with "Maria."

Shadow exhaled all of the air in his lungs as if it was contaminated or dirty. "Sonic and I weren't always on good terms, which probably isn't surprising." Shadow thought of long ago to when he first met Sonic. He thought of how moronic it was for all of Sonic's friends to mistake Shadow for the blue hedgehog.

Amy wanted to chuckle at that. She wondered if the friendship of Sonic and Shadow worked since they were so different. Maybe they acted as two important pieces to an overall puzzle.

"I actually was his number one enemy at one time. But I had changed my mind to hate him after I was reminded of my morals. There was this kid who had reminded me of my childhood friend. After that I decided-" Shadow cut himself off when he noticed Amy's confused expression. He realized that it was best to start from the beginning.

"So I was created in a lab. My original creator who I was in debt to was Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of Doctor Eggman. He created me to be the 'Ultimate Lifeform.' I even used to call myself that since I completely believed that is what I was. Since I was made I never age, so how I look now is also how I looked over fifty years ago."

Amy's eyes widened in shock. Shadow didn't look aged at all. She assumed that he could've graduated from the same class as Sonic. Amy had never learned of lifeforms actually being created artificially. Her old teacher had taught her that it had never been done.

"For my first months existing I spent it living on a ship in space known as the ARK. I was taught my education by Professor Robotnik along with his granddaughter." Shadow handed Amy the notebook. She read over many equations that got more complex as she read further into the book. It was the normal work of a student as they progressed in their teachings.

"His granddaughter was, and still is one of the closest people I've ever known," Shadow almost whispered as he stared towards the ceiling. "She taught me moral values even though Professor Robotnik didn't want her to 'taint' my mind. She talked to me for hours and hours. She was a good kid with the purest soul I've ever seen."

Amy smiled sadly at Shadow when she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. She wondered what it would be like to live as someone who wanted to smile but couldn't. Did Shadow choose to not smile, or was it an action that wasn't natural to him.

"Maria was my best friend. But I've learned that all good things must come to an end rather quickly." Shadow closed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose. He internally struggled with the memories of his past. Shadow wasn't like Sonic though. He wasn't in denial of what happened. His will was stronger than Sonic's.

"I was known as Project Shadow," he forced himself to continue, "a project that was seen as a threat to an organization known as G.U.N. There were men that invaded the ARK. They had shut everything in it down and came to take me under their supervision. Maria tried to save me. Without my consent she pushed me into this glass case, built to be sent directly to Earth. It was originally meant as an escape pod for the professor and Maria. She locked me in there. I was young, still unaware of my own abilities, all I could do was watched. Being considered an accomplice, members of the G.U.N. shot her. She had told me to 'bring hope to humanity.' Right in front of me I saw her fall and die."

Amy wanted to reach over to Shadow. She wanted to comfort him, but knew it wasn't her place to do so. Amy couldn't help but glance at Shadow in a different way, even though she guessed he hated it. Someone with pride such as his remained stoic through the grief.

Shadow looked away from Amy to the piles of memories he was able to collect over the years.

"The extremely short time between my time on Earth and being captured allowed me to get angry. I was filled with so much hate I wanted the entire planet Earth to burn. Before I could do anything, G.U.N. took me into their control. I was locked up in a stasis tube for fifty years until it was opened by Eggman. I never found out what really caused it but when I was awoken I had suffered amnesia. All I remembered for the longest time was images of Maria's death."

Shadow had to have the worst luck. All he could remember was hate. He would wake up to hate. Anything else was foreign to him. Amy soon felt hatred herself. She wanted to meet the G.U.N. members herself, she would be sure to be carrying her hammer with her.

"I followed Eggman's plans to conquer the world since I felt in debt to him for allowing me to rise. But unlike him, I wanted to do more than that. I still wanted the entire population of mankind to have the same fate as Maria."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. Shadow was a gloomy person but she couldn't see him as a murderer. "Doesn't that go against what," Amy hesitated saying her name, "Maria had said."

"I'll get to that," Shadow held up a hand to slow down her thoughts. "I had completely forgotten my old self. All I remembered was that my only friend died. So I completely forgot her wish and my promise to her. As ordered by Eggman, I did what he wanted me to. A part of that order was to get humanity to turn against Sonic. I easily did so but what was strange was the way he always made everything into a game. I hated that about him. I hated how people could be happy when my friend was dead."

"Finally, I met a human friend of Sonic's. His name was Chris. He made me realize that what I was doing wasn't what Maria wanted. I felt ashamed and went against Eggman. Even though I still despised him, I teamed up with Sonic to do as Maria wanted me to. I contributed to saving humanity."

"Afterwards, I followed Sonic and his friends back to Mobius. This planet is much like Earth. The biggest difference are the creatures. There are less humans and- for example- the hedgehogs here are more evolved than the ones on Earth."

Amy realized that explained the barrier between Shadow and the world. No wonder he distanced himself. Did he still feel guilty? He couldn't have been in complete control of what happened in the past.

"Here," Shadow looked directly at Amy for the first time in awhile, "I tried to lead on a better life, still following Maria's word. Turns out G.U.N. are supposedly the good guys. They're also universal so there's a group of them here. For a short time I joined G.U.N. with Rouge. Over time I grew to hate them more and more. I didn't like the way they acted without thinking. I could never forget how they killed Maria, an innocent girl trying to help a worthless hedgehog. G.U.N. isn't justice, just ignorant."

What makes a person or corporation justice? The mark between hero and villain isn't clear. It's blurred with sins and bystanders. Amy never thought of herself as a hero. She never stopped a man from stealing a purse before. The best thing she could think of was when she threw her hammer at Eggman after Sonic had passed out. At the same time, Amy didn't think of herself as evil. She never intentionally went out of her way to hurt someone, whether if it was physically of emotionally.

Looking at Shadow, she wouldn't consider him malevolent. Compared to his entire lifetime, Amy had only seen a small part of it. She hadn't seen him furiated and trying to destroy the world. Looking at Shadow now, he was a worn rag. It's as if Amy just now realized Shadow's true layer.

His eyes weren't always looking with a bored expression but instead a tired one. It was no wonder he always frowned and scowled. Shadow could be genuinely happy, yet he never shows a big grin. How could he when he's always frustrated over his past.

"Anyways," Shadow folded up the box, "overtime I've been getting my memory back to before the accident. Currently, the ARK is just waste drifting through space. I have no idea where in the atmosphere it is now, but a while ago I used chaos to travel to it. I was able to recollect a lot of things from there. Most of them had no value to me though."

"It's funny," Shadow chuckled to himself.

Amy tilted her head slightly to the side. She knew he wasn't talking about Maria, Shadow wasn't the person to take that incident lightly. "What is?" Amy inquired.

Shadow wickedly grinned. It was greatly different from the smile of a young child. His face didn't hold a special glow of joy. He abruptly stopped laughing and sighed longingly, "I am so much different from my past selves. When I was young, I was just some innocent little runt who had no idea what I was made for. In two seconds I changed completely. My entire vision was blurred with rage. And then it all went blank. For the longest time I was just drifting in nothingness. I was jolted up, confused and still angry, by Eggman." Shadow snorted loudly, "I don't understand how that man could be related to her."

Amy's eyes widened slightly. She knew that Shadow mentioned Professor Robotnik being the grandfather to both Maria and Eggman, but she hadn't thought of the two being directly related. Maria sounded sweet and innocent. Eggman was nothing like that.

Everyone she had met played Eggman off as if he was weak. Sonic constantly joked around with him. Tails shrugged off any conversation about Eggman. Cream said that he was a bad man, but yet Eggman never won.

"Well," Amy twiddled her thumbs as her hands rested on her lap, "I'm not sure why Eggman is the way he is but his personality isn't chained to the rest of his family. Blood doesn't necessarily determine one's actions. I never knew my parents but I hope I'm not like them. I would never abandon someone just so I wont have to deal with their problems. It seems awfully selfish."

"You remind me of Maria," Shadow blurted. Amy,who was caught off guard, sucked in a quick breath. "Really?" she questioned in disbelief.

Shadow nodded cautiously, "A few selected people remind me of her. Sometimes people look at me with big, round eyes. It's kind of like how hers were when she spoke to me. Other times I see righteous intentions from people. I still despise mankind and in general most individuals, I'm not much of a people person, yet I find myself looking at some of them and being reminded of Marial. The thing is, I don't want them to remind me of her."

Amy could easily think of how all of her friends were good people. Although both often fought, Rouge and Knuckles cared deeply about one another. Cream was as sweet as any rabbit could possibly be. Although they were quirky and often broke objects, Team Chaotix wanted to do as good as anyone else.

"Well, maybe," Amy spoke softly, "we all have a little Maria in us."

Shadow looked intently down at her. His stare made Amy feel incredibly small. She wanted to hide from his intense gaze. She wondered if she could ever use chaos control and flash out of there.

"You mentioned not seeing Sonic earlier," Shadow changed the subject abruptly. Amy was caught off guard. She almost blushed at the thought of Sonic. The girl couldn't imagine the embarrassment she would feel if Shadow saw he blush at the name of her crush.

Shadow straightened his back. He pulled the dark curtain aside and gazed at the distance. "No one else had probably mentioned this to you," Shadow's tone remained flat as he began to inform Amy, "but every year Sonic kind of disappears for half a month. His friends don't really know why and they never talk about it."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. "That seems awfully suspicious," Amy spoke in a worried tone. "None of them ever talk about it? Don't they worry about him at all?"

Shadow shrugged, "Unlike his friends, I found out where he ran off to every year. I never really bothered him, since it's his business, but if you'd like I could tell you."

"Why would you tell me?"

Shadow pulled away from the window. He stood in front of Amy with his arms folded over his chest. The girl barely stood up to the height of his shoulder. Most hedgehogs, male or female, stood at a closer height, Amy was unusually short.

"You're good for him," Shadow said sincerely. That time Amy blushed.

* * *

><p>Amy was glad that the temperature had risen to just above the freezing point. The weather seemed to be giving her a break for once. The inches of piled snow dropped to only a couple, making it easy for her to walk over the land. Amy had moved quickly. She was easily worn out. Her breaths came out as puffs into the air.<p>

Shadow had told her to walk as far west as she could until she ran into a cemetery. Shadow pointed the direction that led her deeper into the woods. She eventually broke out to the other side. It felt fresh seeing the rolling hills barely touched. She had noticed that there was another set of footprints leading her in the same direction.

She had to admit that Sonic was unpredictable. Amy wasn't even aware of a graveyard being anywhere remotely in the area. What surprised her even more was the idea of Sonic hanging out there. He was always so lively to her. The pink hedgehog had a feeling she was starting to see a whole new side to Sonic.

She had an eerie feeling as she stood directly in front of the small picket fence. Most of the paint on it faded and peeled away. The yard was small enough that she could easily see the other side of the land.

Amy pushed open the gateway. She continued to follow the lonely foot prints until they ended at the base of a tree. Looking up, the branches twisted past one another. The wood was dark from the wet weather. It was easy to see into the trees. She scanned for any blue. Amy squinted against the brightness the clouds reflected towards her.

"Amy," a voice choked from behind her. She spun her head around to see Sonic the Hedgehog. The girl gasped at the sight of him. Her mind instantly told her that it wasn't _her_ Sonic. His muzzle was pale compared to the usual tan hue. The usual glossy orbs were now red and irritated. He was the perfect image of a worn person who had not slept in days.

Sonic mirrored her surprised expression. "What are you doing here?" Sonic sounded genuinely confused.

Amy bit down on her bottom lip. "Well," she tried to form words, "I-I guess I was looking for you." The pink hedgehog felt out of place. Her mind began to wonder what her role was to Sonic. Like the rest of his friends, was she supposed to let him be?

"You should just go home," Sonic turned around and began walking away.

Amy extended her hand towards him even though she couldn't reach him. "Wait!" she frantically said. Amy knew that if Sonic really wanted to leave, he could disappear in the blink of an eye. "Why are you here?" Amy glanced around them. "I mean, a cemetery? I didn't know you came here."

"How did you even find me?" Sonic snapped, not really expecting an answer. He reeled back slightly when he saw to shock over Amy's face. It was a first that Amy had seen Sonic act so bipolar.

Sonic looked over the multiple tombstones. There were countless outdated names. The earliest deaths dated back over 70 years ago. "I just like to pay my respects I guess," Sonic said more calmly.

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. She knew that something wasn't making sense. "I've heard that you disappear around this time," Amy didn't hide her confusion. "No one had ever mentioned a single thing to me about it other than Shadow. Now that I think about it, it's as if all of our friends were avoiding talking about it."

"You're always around," Sonic groaned, "just like the rest of them. You're _always_ there. Maybe I just want to be alone for awhile without having to explain myself to you. I have no obligation to you!"

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. He was so different from before that she could barely recognize the Sonic in front of her. It was as if another person was wearing the skin that belong to the one and only Sonic. She knew that there was something he wasn't telling her.

Although she wanted to bite back at him, Amy felt too hurt to do so. Her eyes softened to defeat. "I'll do you a favor and leave then," she choked. Amy turned away from him as quickly as possible. She walked past the gate and back to the direction she came from.

Amy hoped that he would take back what he said. That he would quickly apologize to her. Sonic would admit that it was all a joke. With his stupid grin he would run her back to her house and watch all the horrible movies they could until both of them were blind.

It amazed Amy how in such a short time her mood could drastically change. She barely said anything to him and yet he acted as if he wanted almost nothing to do with her. Her mind kept telling her that he wanted her as far away as possible.

Amy walked all the way home without Sonic following her. If he wanted her to stay away, she'll stay away.

* * *

><p>"You've been acting weird lately," Cream noted to Amy. Amy, caught off guard, looked down at Cream as she set a beverage in front of the rabbit. Although, Amy wasn't up for it, she had to go to work. She was thankful that it was a slow day.<p>

Amy was shocked that Cream had noticed a change in her overall mood. The pink hedgehog didn't mention to anyone her brief interaction with Sonic. Although it was barely over a week ago, it felt like years since she had begun feeling off.

After talking to Sonic, she had went straight home and to her room. Amy locked the door and threw herself onto her bed without removing any of her extra clothes. Her limbs were spread out like a starfish. Her minimum sobs were muffled by the plush comforter.

Amy soon found herself wondering why she was grieving. She found it unfair that Sonic had such an impact on her while he seemed to feel nothing. Was he worth it when she wasn't? Amy had shaken her head vigorously. She didn't feel any shame in quickly giving up on him.

Amy thought that she did a good job at hiding her feelings. She felt anger at Sonic for being so ungrateful. She felt vexation at her friends for not bothering to find out what's wrong with Sonic. And somewhere inside her she felt disappointment. Amy subconsciously convinced herself that Sonic looked at her differently than the rest of her friends.

Both Tails and Cream fixated their eyes on Amy. The girl snapped out of her trance when she noticed the attention she was receiving. Amy faked a smile, "I don't know what you're talking about." Cream didn't seem convinced but neglected to press on farther.

Amy returned to her work behind the counter. Cream and Tails spoke in hushed voices so the hedgehog wouldn't be able to pick up anything they were saying.

"Something is wrong with her," Tails noted right away.

Cream nodded in agreement, "She's been like that all week." For the rabbit, it was easy to notice the way Amy frowned when she thought no one was looking or forced a smile when someone was.

Tails thoughtfully glanced over their friend. "I don't mean to sound bizarre, but what if she's having boy problems," Cream suggested. The young girl found it easy to decode Amy's feelings.

"Sonic!" Tails abruptly said. Cream's eyes widened slightly. She wondered if Tails knew about Amy's secret crush. "What about Sonic?" she nervously asked, trying not to reveal her friend. "No," Tails shook his head, "I mean he is right there."

Cream looked over her shoulder. She could see Sonic with just a jacket through the large windows. He opened the door, causing the bells to ring as he entered.

Amy snapped her head up at the sound. Her heart thudded as she saw Sonic join Cream and Tails. She remembered what he told her and glared at the back of his head. It was weird the way he smiled normally. Amy wanted to accuse him for acting so normal. She was thankful that she could finally clockout only a couple minutes after Sonic came in.

"Amy!" Cream called over the pink hedgehog before she could make a mad dash out of the diner. Amy forced the corners of her mouth to turn upwards. She stood a the head of the table. Amy was sure to not make eye contact with Sonic. It was hard to not focus on him when he sat right next to Cream.

"I really don't feel like staying," Amy sheepishly admitted. She wanted to sound as polite as possible so she wouldn't hurt her best friend's feelings. "I have a headache," it wasn't a complete lie. Over thinking too much has left her brain tired.

"I could run you home," Sonic offered. Even though it was still chilly, a lot of the snow melted, making running more convenient for Sonic. Amy quickly shook her head, leaving her slightly dizzy. "No, I don't think running would help," she made as an excuse. She still didn't glance at him but knew he was staring intently at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she walked away as normal as she could manage without sparing a glance behind her. Amy inhaled the fresh air. As the distance between her and Sonic grew, Amy felt a little more satisfied. She felt more even with him that she turned him away after he denied her company.

Amy understood that some people needed their space, and she was willing to respect that, but she didn't accept Sonic acting uncharacteristically suddenly. Something had happened to him, she knew that for sure. Amy had thought that she made progress with Sonic. She had felt so close to understanding him, but now she took two huge steps back.

"_There's something he isn't telling anyone,_" Amy confidently thought. "Although," Amy spoke to herself, "Shadow did know where Sonic was." Amy abruptly thought at a sudden realization. "This is what Shadow is waiting to tell me." To Amy, it had made sense. Shadow _knew_ where Sonic was while no one else did. Shadow always told Amy how she couldn't judge Sonic but kept the reason a secret. Shadow wasn't willing to tell Amy until he completely trusted her. She was almost willing to march straight to Shadow's house and demand that he told her _everything_.

Amy sighed as she stepped into her house. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her coat onto the ground next to them. Amy was exhausted even though it was barely 8 O'clock in the evening.

She trudged up her steps and went straight to her room. For the past days she had been moping alone, not feeling up to any kind of company. Amy curled into a ball and pulled the covers over her head.

She scolded her self for being so emotionally weak. Why would she let such a small incident leave her feeling so empty. Amy thought that she would feel stronger after pushing Sonic away but now she wished that she had accepted his offer.

Amy squeezed her eyes shut. The more she tried to not think about Sonic the more he filled her mind. She groaned and threw the covers off of her. She felt claustrophobic with all of the thoughts swimming around her.

A light tapping captured her attention. Amy was thankful for the distraction for a brief moment. She turned and, to her horror, Sonic was hanging outside her window. It was something he often did when he expected her to open it for him.

Amy keeping her eyes glaring at him. She pointedly stood up and walked to the window. It had looked like she was going to let Sonic in. Instead, Amy closed the curtain, hiding her view of him.

A quick second later she heard her front door open downstairs. She had forgotten that Sonic owned a key to her house. As fast as possible, Amy moved to close her bedroom door. She sighed while pressing her back against the door.

"Why are you so melodramatic?"

Amy jumped with a small screech. Sonic leaned against the wall right next to her.

"How did you get in here?" she questioned in disbelief.

Sonic pointed his index finger at himself, "Fastest thing alive, remember?"

Amy made an attempt to leave the room. Sonic stopped the door from swinging open with his foot. His hand held a firm grip on Amy even as she tried to pull it away.

"I'm guessing you're upset with me," Sonic stated an obvious observation. Amy rolled her eyes. Sonic, who still kept his foot in front of the door, let go of the girl's wrist. As soon as his grip lightened she swung her arm as far away from him as she could. "I wonder what gave that away," Amy sarcastically commented.

Sonic frowned, "Is this about what I said?" Amy crossed her arms and turned her back to him. "If it's any consolation," Sonic spoke with seriousness, "I'm sorry." For once, Sonic's words didn't hold any meaning to Amy.

"If you were really sorry you would've apologized days ago," Amy spat.

"I just wanted to be alone for once."

Amy huffed, "There something you're not telling me."

Sonic froze at her words. She was incredibly right. He wondered how such a small hedgehog could be so different. No one else thought about much about Sonic's secrets or at least they never been so straightforward to him about them.

Sonic didn't want her to know anything more than she already did. Amy was his new life. She was to be kept far away from the past, but Sonic still found himself appreciating her.

Amy jumped when Sonic wrapped one arm around her shoulders. She wanted to look furious but found herself blushing.

"I just get this way sometimes," Sonic admitted with a light hearted smile. "I don't want to push my close friends away but I can't help it. I know you're mad but please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," Amy urgently said. She blushed more while Sonic laughed.

"Good." Sonic briefly frowned, "Just... Don't ask me any more questions, okay?"

As much as Amy wanted to press on further, she remained silent. As impatient as she was, she felt like this was something she had to wait for. Amy wondered if her dream friend was talking about Sonic. Sonic, although he seemed fine, really did need someone. "_Of course,_" Amy thought, "_he has to be the one._"

It was a weird feeling to have all of her anger vanish so quickly. Amy was almost certain that she wouldn't let Sonic get close to her. It still remained that Sonic left a little distance between her and his personal problems. She was disappointed that Sonic didn't open up to her.

Sonic pulled away from Amy, leaving her feeling cold. "Let's go watch that movie we were supposed to and forget any of this, okay?" Amy nodded numbly and followed him down stairs.

Once again, the vibes between the two changed in a heartbeat.

* * *

><p>Amy and Sonic sprawled out over the couch as they usually did. The criticised the current movie greatly.<p>

"I just don't understand how a single boy can be a jock, a bad boy with a sensitive side, a musician, have no acne and great hair," Amy shook her head.

Sonic agreed with her, "I feel like this movie was literally written by a 15-year-old girl."

"I wonder how much fund-"

Amy was cut off by a rapid knocking. Both hedgehogs turned to the door. Sonic raised an eyebrow. He was confused on who would be stopping by so late in the night. After a short moment the knocking continued to pursue.

Amy pushed off the couch. "I'm coming," she called out. She unlocked the doorway.

Amy didn't recognize the woman in front of her. The lady was covered in purple. Lighter fur hung over her forehead in a messy bunch. Amy appreciated the red shirt the woman sported along with purple gloves ans a matching skirt. Amy found her green eyes captivating in a familiar way.

"Uh- Can I help y-"

"I was told that I could find Sonic the hedgehog here," the woman had cut Amy off. Her voice was elegant and smooth yet she spoke with urgency.

"Sonic," Amy called him over, "someone is here for you." She heard Sonic approach the door from behind her. The woman's face lit up. Her eyes became glossy as if she was about to cry.

Looking back, Sonic had frozen as he stared right at the woman. Amy, confused, darted her eyes back and forth between Sonic and the purple hedgehog. She tried to wrap her head around the fact that Sonic looked like he was about to be sick while the purple hedgehog looked overwhelmed with joy.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out when she saw his knees buckle and him fall to the floor. With a small thud on the carpet, he laid there unconscious.


	25. Hidden Blood

**Chapter: Hidden Blood**

* * *

><p>Amy grunted as she attempted to pick up Sonic by his shoulders. The strange woman reached down and grasped his ankles. With their strength combined, the two girls lifted Sonic just enough to lay him on the couch.<p>

Amy shook his side, trying to coax him awake. She stared intently down at him. Sonic looked empty. His face, instead of peaceful, looked ill. Moments ago, Sonic was as normal as the blue hedgehog could be.

Amy raised her eyes up at the woman who stood a few feet away. Her back was stiff and any emotion she held was now hidden.

"Do not worry," her voice spoke of business, "he will be waking up momentarily. A blackout can be caused by an emotional shock or stress that affects the blood pressure. Has he been feeling strained before?"

Never going to medical school made Amy feel rather dumb compared to the woman. She thought of the previous week and Sonic's still unexplained emotional behavior. Amy nodded a confirmation. She assumed that Sonic had his emotions under a lot of pressure.

"He will be waking up momentarily then. I think it would be best if I weren't in the room when he does. Please escort me to an isolated room."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. "_Who is this woman?_" she wondered to herself. In a way, the lady did remind Amy of Sonic. Both had the tendency to invade homes.

Without getting up from Sonic's side, Amy pointed to the dining room with closeable doors. The woman seemed taken back for a moment. Her eyes were narrowed slightly before returning to their normal hold. She left the room in silence, closing the door after her.

Amy sighed. She stared down at Sonic, wondering why he made everything complicated. Amy now knew that even if he tried to be a simple individual, that wasn't what he was. Sonic was far from normal.

"Amy," he croaked. She jumped slightly, reeling away from her thoughts. "Sonic," she gave him a warming smile. He blinked a few times up at her. Amy could see his eyes cloud in confusion.

She put her hand on his back to help him sit up. Sonic grunted from his head rush. "Are you okay?" Amy gasped when she saw his brief discomfort. "Managing," his strained voice forced.

Sonic looked around the room. It was clean and familiar to him. Amy, who trailed her eyes wherever Sonic looked, noticed the front door still hung open. She rushed to close it, blocking off the chilly air from invading her house.

"Uh," Sonic chewed on the inside of his cheek, "is she still here?" Amy nodded her head slowly. Sonic began to look sick once more. Amy feared he was on the verge of vomiting. "Do you need a bucket?" she quickly asked while she scurried to his side.

Sonic forced a smile. He shook his head. "Hey," he reached out and grabbed her upper arm. Amy blushed at the touch. Sonic gave her a comforting squeeze, knowing fully well what he was doing. "I don't really mean to lock you up in your own house, but would you mind letting me talk to her alone?" He charmingly flashed his teeth at her.

Amy glared at him, pulling her arm out of his touch. Sonic held his friendly smile directed to only her. "You know you could just go outside," Amy nudged her thumb towards the door.

"_Please_?" Sonic begged. He grabbed each of her wrists to shake her arms in an attempt to annoy Amy the best that he could.

"Fine," she huffed while yanking away from him once more, "but you have to explain to me _everything _later." She turned her back to Sonic.

"I promise," he lied. Sonic ignored the shame that followed behind him. He never thought of himself to be a liar yet it was so easy.

Sonic fell back onto the couch. He peered at Amy as she marched up the stairs, not bothering to move until he could hear her bedroom door shut. He glanced at the closed doors that lead to the dining room. His hands shook. Sonic squeezed his eyes shut. He wondered if he would be lucky enough for the ceiling to crash down on him.

He knew _she _was standing on the other side, waiting for him to come to her. How could she do this to him? In his eyes, she was just a wicked purple hedgehog. To her, she was a loving mother. Sonic could already feel his frustration giving him another round of headaches.

With a gulp, he mustered all of his courage to stand up. He stared at the door, not wanting to approach it anymore. "Come in," he called out, knowing that someone was listening.

Aleena, with her back straight, stepped from behind the door and into the room. Just as he briefly remembered, she wore the royal colors of their family. A red shirt, with sleeves that laid past her wrists, tucked into her long skirt made of deep purple.

Aleena frowned at him. "Hello Sonic," she addressed him.

"What are you doing here?" Sonic did his best to not yell. She was his mother, she deserved his respect. He also didn't want a certain pink hedgehog to be able to listen on to the conversation.

Aleena took a step forward. She disappointedly glanced at the way Sonic stiffened. Her own son couldn't stand to be around her. "You're supposed to keep in touch," Aleena snapped. "Every month you had to write to me. That was our agreement. You haven't written to me in almost a year. Do you know how much I worry when I don't even know how my own son is doing? You could've been dead for all I knew." Aleena narrowed her eyes at him.

"Everyone else thinks I am," Sonic held his ground, "I thought it could've been time for you to just think the same."

Aleena bit her lip. Sonic softened slightly at her expression. Her green eyes grew round and glossy. "I'm a horrible mother," she croaked. Aleena suddenly dropped to her knees. Sonic gaped at her in shock. She looked up at Sonic to meet his eyes. "Your brother and sister think you're dead! They barely remember you! It's like you're a ghost! I have no idea who you are anymore! I sent you off to some city, thinking that it would do you good! But no! I should've been there for you!"

"It was my idea," Sonic stated, "you just helped carry it out."

"Why did you stop writing me?" Aleena pleaded for an answer.

Sonic ran a hand through his quills. He wondered if he would feel better after ripping it all out. "I just," he tried to explain his jumbled thoughts, "I just thought that I could do so and completely cut myself off from my old life. If I did so then I would feel better."

"Do you?" Aleena quickly asked.

Sonic plopped back onto the couch. He let out a long sigh. "I don't know. It depends. I don't like to think about it."

Aleena stared at Sonic. Her son was suddenly worn down. She wondered if anyone else saw his features this way. In his new life with his new friends, she wondered if any of them were considerate to him. From her understanding, kept everything from his childhood a secret. She felt unwelcomed in his presence.

"I just wish that you were more considerate," Aleena whispered. "You think that you have the toughest time in the world, but even people like me, who grew up rich, face so much pain." Her eyes began to water. Sonic silently prayed that she wouldn't cry. "I lost your father," Aleena spoke with a broken voice, "I've practically lost you now too. I had to stand with everyone. Panic with everyone. Cry with everyone. Grief with your siblings under the impression that you were dead. I've tricked the entire kingdom and our own family!"

Silence filled the air. Like smoke, it made it hard for Sonic to breathe. "I'll respond to your letters," Sonic scratched the back of his head, unsure of what else to say to his weeping mother, "every month from now on."

Aleena immediately stopped crying and straightened her back. She stood up and approached her son. To his surprised, she whacked him on the side of his head. It didn't hurt but held enough force to get her message across. "Bad boy," she suddenly scolded, "never do that to me again!"

Sonic rubbed his head. He hung his head down. He still felt his heart clench and release rapidly. The blue hedgehog feared if his chest would explode. "You didn't have to come out here," he said, keeping his voice as flat as possible. In his head, he was trying to mimic Shadow.

"But I have to," Aleena sternly said. "As the queen, I am off on extremely confidential business. I was able to actually sneak off and now I am staying here."

Sonic's eyes widened in panic. "Stay here?" he exclaimed, hoping that this was a sick joke.

Aleena nodded her head, "Just until I am certain that you are alright."

"But I am," Sonic complained. He whined in the tone one would expect from a young child.

Aleena frowned at her son. Years ago, she was sympathetic toward him, a part of her still is. Today, she decided that it was time to make changes for the better. "No you're not, Sonic," she argued, "your whole life here is a fake!"

Sonic slowly raised his head from the ground. He felt offended at her words. What around him was "fake" in the country? He had Tails and everyone else as well. All of them were real. Sonic got to live carefree, just how he wanted to. A life like that allowed for him to be himself. "I just so happen to enjoy the way I live," Sonic informed her.

"I barely even know how that is," Aleena sighed. She glanced at the clock, "It is late and I had a long trip. I am feeling tired. We shall talk more later. Take me back to your house so I can turn in for the night."

Sonic rolled his eyes at the way his mom tried to take on a more formal tone to get what she want. "I don't have a house," he snorted.

Aleena gave him a bizarre look, "How can you not have a home?"

Sonic shrugged. He did technically have one at an earlier point. Even then he didn't use it. At the moment if he really wanted to buy a house, he could afford to do so with all of the rings he had. Aleena wasn't aware of the reality that he preferred to just sleep on couches.

"I usually either crash here or at Tails' place."

"Here?" Aleena echoed.

"Yeah, why?"

Aleena hit Sonic once more on his head. He groaned and rubbed his skull in agony. "What was that for?!" Sonic cried out this time, not understanding what he had done wrong.

Aleena shook her head in disappointment, "How inappropriate! I thought I raised you better than to use a young woman like that!"

Sonic held his hands up in surrender. He stood up from the couch. He now realized how petit Aleena was compared to his height. He now craned his neck downward to look a her. "I'm not using her," Sonic defended himself, "all I do is hang around here since Tails had been busy lately!"

Aleena didn't look convinced. "I didn't know you ran off to be with another woman! I'm supposed to be the only one in your life!"

Sonic held up his index finger to quiet her. "For starters, I am not with her," he informed Aleena, "that would be weird. Secondly, I'm 21. Most guys my age don't have only their moms. Besides, I'm not even into relationships like that... You know that..." Sonic's thoughts began to trail off.

Aleena sighed and took a seat on the couch. Sonic sat beside her. Both hedgehogs stared at the wall ahead of them. Their matching eyes longed for something.

"I have to admit," Aleena began to confess with a frown on her face, "I did not expect for you to be gone forever. I thought that you would go missing and come back before you were claimed dead. I figured you'd move on from _it_. This just isn't healthy."

"Have you moved on from dad?" Sonic questioned her. He didn't remember his father much. As a child, he had looked at his dad with dislike since his father was always though on him. At one point he was grieving heavily after his father passed away. Each day wiped away a part of his father.

Aleena gasped in astonishment, "Of course I haven't! I love your dad! We were married for years."

"I haven't moved on from her either."

"But that is different," Aleena tried to reason.

"Is it?" Sonic wondered out loud. "Were my feelings any different then? Do I not feel the same way now? Emotions don't develop over a lifetime. I have as much just to feel this way as you do to feel about dad."

"Sorry," Aleena apologized, trying to stay on Sonic's good side. She still didn't agree with him. Although Sally and Sonic had been friends for years, they had only dated for a minimum amount of time. Even then it was bound to happen since they were originally betrothed to one another. Sally's death was just a bump in the road.

It was definitely tragic when Sally died, but even then the world will go on. If Sonic hadn't taken it so hard, he would have eventually been found another suitor. Sonic wasn't aware that the kingdom would have tried to replace Sally in his life.

The blue hedgehog lucked out at being the youngest sibling. Here, he was able to escape. His older siblings were still healthy and first in line to take on the throne. It's unlikely that Sonic would have been needed to do so.

"You can't help it," Sonic shrugged, "you were raised to act and think a certain way."

"We'll talk more later," Aleena repeated. "Right now, I need a place to rest."

"You're really going to stay?" Sonic dreaded her answer.

"Yes," Aleena confirmed, "just until I am happy with what I see."

Sonic sighed. "Okay, but I want to lay down some ground rules." He had to be certain that no one found out the truth about him and Aleena. He wanted to keep his two worlds as separate as possible.

Aleena didn't argue. She silently nodded her head.

"First, don't do that thing where you talk all formal and business like when you want something. No one here does that. Speak casual," Sonic lectured her. Aleena suddenly felt like the child between the two. "Also," Sonic continued, "we are not related. I had worked for you while I was a teenager. You cared for me when I was younger when my real parents couldn't and just stopped by for a visit. Don't speak on how I had acted when I was younger. Don't make any references to the past. Just live in the moment."

"You need to be more independent," Sonic noted. "Do things for yourself. Get your own food. Walk yourself places. Dress yourself as well." Sonic looked over the attire his mother chose to wear. The skirt, instead of a rich silk, could've looked more casual. "Make sure to wear something you would see your commoners wear."

Sonic stood up from the couch. He reached out a hand to help his mother up. "I know of a nice lady who takes in people. You have to make some sort of payment though. I doubt you would be much use in the working department so if you have any rings with you I recommend paying with those."

Sonic ushered Aleena and the belongings she had with her to the door. "Just walk straight down that way," he pointed off into the night. The moon was able to glow up the area. The snow sparkled around them. In the distance, Aleena was able to see a cozy house with the lights inside on. "That house is where Vanilla lives, she will take you in."

Aleena focused her vision on the house. It wasn't too long of a walk. "You aren't going to escort me there?" she asked in confusion to her son.

Sonic gave her a look of slight displeasement and disbelief. "Are you kiddi-" he stopped himself, knowing that his annoyance was obvious. "It won't take long to get there," he stated.

Before Aleena could speak once more, he closed the door. Sonic felt bad for being discourteous towards his mother but couldn't help it. He realized as he leaned against the door that he had been talking quickly. He was subconsciously pushing his mom away.

Once more, Sonic yanked on his quills. It didn't hurt but he wished that it would just to make him feel more awake.

Sonic stared at the staircase. Upstairs Amy was probably waiting to yell at him. She probably felt annoyed at him just like his mom. Even if she did, talking to Amy about anything would make him feel better.

Sonic pushed off of the wall.

Amy sat at the foot of her bed. She stared at her door knowing that Sonic was walking down the hallway at the moment.

She was confused with who the woman was. Why had she looked so familiar to her? There was something about her face. Amy couldn't pinpoint what her mind was trying to tell her.

She was even more perplexed to how Sonic had known the woman. She had heard some yelling but couldn't make out the words. Amy recognized Sonic's voice but wondered what could have gotten him so upset.

Sonic entered her room. Amy furrowed her eyebrows. Before he smiled, she could have sworn that he carried a sulking expression.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Amy stood up but ended up sitting back down as he sat next to her. Sonic shrugged his shoulders, "Are any of us okay?" Amy faintly smiled. Maybe as individuals, the average person would say that each held a problem or something was off about them. Yet everyone came together on equal grounds.

"I guess not," Amy admitted, speaking particularly about Sonic. She wondered if she will ever figure him out. "Who was she?" Amy somehow knew it was a tender subject.

"A caretaker of mine from when I was little," Sonic hoped Amy would buy it. "Often, my mom couldn't take care of me since she worked so she would do so. As soon as I could I had decided to leave and I didn't really keep much contact so she has decided to visit for sometime."

"Then why did you faint?" Amy pressed on.

"I didn't eat enough today I guess," Sonic wasn't even sure if that could cause someone to passout. And he had eaten multiple times throughout the day, probably twice as much as he usually would.

The pink hedgehog didn't look completely convinced. She went silent, wondering if it was the truth. Amy had caught on long ago that Sonic wasn't a fan of talking about his childhood. She knew it was strange for him to speak so casually about it. Earlier he had looked like he was sick to his stomach when he looked at the woman.

"Are you sure?" Amy meant it more for Sonic to tell her something else. Maybe there was a truth and she really wasn't overthinking him.

"Positive," Sonic quickly responded while darting his eyes to the ceiling. He desperately wanted to talk about something else. He would even settle for the disease growing on Vector's foot.

Amy plopped back onto her bed. Although her mind was racing wild, her body was left feeling drained. "You're a strange guy," she giggled. Amy had noticed his quirky actions.

Sonic took it in as a compliment, "Thanks." Amy gave him a thumbs up, which he returned. "Wanna go finish the movie?" Sonic suggested.

Amy shook her head slightly, indicating a no. "I just don't feel like it." Amy stared at the ceiling. Sonic laid back next to her. His arm barely brushed hers, sending a tickling sensation up her arm. She shivered.

"Just a random question," Amy blurted, "what was your first impression of me?"

Sonic turned slightly to face her. "That is a random question," he noted.

"Well, I mean we both know that I didn't really like you that much," Amy reasoned. She thought that it was silly to have almost right away take on a disliking for Sonic. He did act egotistical but now she saw that as confidence. Sonic was actually caring, whether if he knew it himself or not. It surprised her that both of them came together so easily.

Sonic thoughtfully hummed back to Amy when he first met her. He remembered opening his eyes to a pink hedgehog yelling up at Eggman. "First of all, you were loud." She still can be. Sonic remembered Amy's hammer. She had used it against Eggman and to break the ice on the frozen pond. To someone who could barely swim and hated water, the pond was hell. "I also kind of thought it was cool the way you used your hammer, it made you strong."

Pink. Amy was so pink. Her room and her fur. She always wore red, which to Sonic was very close to pink. "I actually thought that you would be annoyingly girly since you always wore those dresses and stuff, but you actually managed to make pink look cool too."

Amy punched his shoulder.

"Hey! That was a compliment," Sonic defended himself. "But you could get some blue in here," he suggested. "Or wear something blue for once."

"You're just saying that because you're blue," Amy rolled her eyes.

"It's a great color!"

Amy grinned at him. "It's a _pretty_ color," she teased him.

Sonic shook his head in disapproval, "You can't call blue pretty! I'm blue! That's like calling me pretty! Guys can't be called pretty! It's in the rulebook."

"What rulebook?" Amy challenged.

"It's the rulebook of life," Sonic smugly smiled as he crossed his arms. "Actually I believe it's on page 213 paragraph 3. 'Thou shalt not call thy male pretty.'"

Amy giggled once more. "What else does it say?"

"A whole bunch of things," Sonic made a wide hand gesture. He thought up a random list, "Don't look a mirror in the dark. Treat everyone based on their personality, not their face. There is always a time for second chances."

"You have to break apart a CitCat before eating it," Amy included.

"Spend more time appreciating what you have than complaining."

"Learn from your mistakes than repeat them."

"Keep an open mind to opinions."

"Don't overuse the word 'Sorry.'"

"The most important one of all: don't be Eggman."

Amy shrugged, "I was thinking more along the lines of love being one of the greatest strengths ever but that will work too."


	26. Save the Date

**I decided that, since every reader is so awesome, you guys deserve a nice chapter with lots of thought. Also I personally think that my last chapter was pretty weak so I want to "redeem" myself.**

**THERE ARE 8 CHAPTERS LEFT, NOT INCLUDING THE EPILOGUE!**

**Chapter: Save the Date**

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><p>It was a warm morning inside the house of the rabbits. Amy, who had joined Cream for breakfast, was currently helping the clean up. Steam rose up from the hot water filling the sink. Dishes clashed together as Aleena tried her best to clean them. It was a new experience to handle chores but she didn't mind. It was a nice change to see how normal people lived throughout the day.<p>

With a rag in her hand, Amy dried each fresh plate before handing it to Cream to put away. She was still confused of who exactly the other hedgehog was. The woman had appeared out of seemingly nowhere asking for Sonic. Amy only knew the story of how Aleena watched Sonic as he was a child. Amy wondered what he was like as a young kid. She was way too embarrassed to ask though.

"So Aleena," Amy took the attention of the purple hedgehog, "where do you come from?"

Aleena paused with her work for a moment. She carried a blank expression as she stared out the window. Cream glanced at the woman. The rabbit figured that Aleena had a weak memory. "No where special," she finally mumbled. She returned to scrubbing any stains away. The dish soap made her fur tender and soft.

"What about all of you guys?" Aleena reflected the question off of her. She wasn't a good liar but had to to stay on her son's good side. Aleena figured it would be best if she kept her tales to a minimum.

"I've always been stuck here," Rouge snorted. She sat with her legs crossed on the kitchen island. The bat leaned close to a pocket mirror. She was carefully inspecting her work of makeup. There was a debate in her mind is she should apply another layer of lipstick just to be safe.

It was true that she had grown in Emerald Town for as long as she could remember. Rouge had gone through a phase where she would travel away for long periods of time, but she always found herself drawn back to the area. It's highly suspected that a red echidna would have something to do with it.

"You're not stuck," Vanilla shook her head. The mother rabbit sorted out bakery goods and books to put into her delivery basket. As a part of her side job Vanilla had to bring people orders from multiple stores in the strip. This helped people who had trouble walking, lived too far away or were just plain lazy. The rabbit clicked her tongue, "You could leave any moment, Rouge, but you choose to stay."

"It is a lovely place," Aleena commented. She had actually been to emerald town once before many years ago. Aleena had came when she was just a young child and the town was more populated. Smells and sounds from then were just faded memories. The entire place had a peaceful aura, one of the reasons as to why she chose for Sonic to come here. Over the years anyone who had seen her then as a princess were dead or moved long away.

"What about you, Vanilla?" Aleena asked. She was fond of the well mannered rabbit and truly wished to know more about the young mother.

"Well I was raised on a farm," Vanilla recited, "but that's a long distance from here. Also, it was used as a tourist attraction since it was so close to the city so a lot of people came by. Although my parents raised me well, there were a lot of influences that came from the city. I wasn't really affected by them but most of my siblings were so most of them moved out to go live in the city."

Vanilla smiled fondly on the thoughts of her family. She wasn't exactly close to her parents. It was hard to be so when she had six younger sisters and two younger brothers who all needed attention. Vanilla wasn't the oldest child either. She had three elder sisters and four brothers. Her parents had wanted the kids so that they could have enough free labor on the farm. Their family plan didn't work out when twelve of their children moved away.

Vanilla wanted to stay on the farm, but after having Cream she realized it wasn't safe for hr young rabbit. She feared that somebody would take her child as most of the strangers would pet Cream as a baby and gush over her. Vanilla also didn't want her parents to force their granddaughter into a worker just as they had done so to their first grandson.

Vanilla overall looked forward to the next family reunion. It was always a giant party and gave Cream the chance to bond with her distant family.

"So I decided to move out to here when I was twenty years old with Cream. It was one of the best things I have ever done," Vanilla concluded. Cream proudly smiled up at her mom.

"Not long ago Amy moved here too!" Cream added.

Aleena looked over at Amy with interest. As a mother, she wanted to know the most about the girl who Sonic had latched onto. She thought of Amy as a cute, young girl. Her voice sounded steady and clear, a quality the queen admired.

Amy nodded her head. It was an entire lifetime ago that she had came here. It felt like she ventured into a whole other world filled with amazing saviors. "I originally came here for a summer job," Amy explained. "I had just graduated high school at the time and there was just _something_ that had given me a boost to just decide to call this ad for anyone qualified enough to teach Cream over the summer so she could keep up with her studies. When the job was completed I wasn't needed anymore. I wanted to stay and Vanilla had said that I could, but I was debating it since I would feel bad being an adult mooching off of my employer. But I was surprised when everyone had fixed up Sonic's abandoned house for me and already applied a job for me to stay. I could have gotten the job myself, but it was truly the nicest thing ever when everyone else set me up." Amy smiled fondly to herself as she stared down at the drying dishes.

Aleena couldn't help her ears twitch slightly at the name of Sonic. "Sonic's abandoned house?" she questioned.

"Sonic is weird," Rouge stated. "Somehow he is loaded with money and he is always finding more rings so he is basically rich, but he doesn't use any of it really unless it is necessary." Rouge borely shrugged her shoulders as she pulled out new, pink lipstick. "Way back when he first moved here he had bought a house. It was always a beautiful house, but he never used it. He didn't even bother putting furniture in it. So instead of sleeping at his own house, he would sleep outside. And when the weather was too harsh he would sleep at Tails'. I even heard that he doesn't even sleep in the guest bedroom. He apparently prefers couches over nice and soft beds."

Aleena remained silent as she listened on about her son. She shamley had to agree that it was odd for a person who acted so. She knew Sonic wouldn't want a lot of money even if he had it. He was always humble and wasn't into the flashy life that came with royalty.

"Sonic is just... complex," Amy reasoned.

"I did see you and him hanging out," Aleena strained to keep a straight face. She knew it was rude to pry but her manners taught didn't apply here. "What is with you two?" she slyly asked.

Amy, feeling rather awkward, smiled while averting her eyes. She paused in her work, "Nothing is with us."

"Sorry," Aleena apologized, "you two just seemed close."

"A little too close," Rouge quipped with a smirk. She ignored the glare Amy sent her while dodging a damp rag.

"They're just friends," Cream smiled while pointedly stepping in between Rouge and Amy.

Amy went back to drying off the final dish. "Sonic isn't really opened to dating," Amy stated. She remembered how Sonic had turned down Cryssi. Even long before then, she had been told that lots of girls in the past had been turned down by him. Amy even witnessed his fan club at the local diner before. Sonic had coolly talked to the girls but Amy could tell he was feeling rather overwhelmed.

She didn't understand why. Amy had been on a couple dates when she was in high school, but nothing serious. All the guys she had known back then seemed to constantly chase after girls.

Aleena really wanted to help her son. She had thought long ago all Sonic needed was to take mental rest but it was now clear to her that he needed more. A first step in her mind was to get Sonic to begin dating once more. He didn't even need to get a girlfriend, but just to be able to go on one casual date. More importantly than that, Aleena would never force Sonic into doing something he wasn't ready for. She knew she had to be patient for him.

"Don't you think it's a little unhealthy," Aleena pondered out loud, "for a young man to not experience relationships and romance?"

Amy and Cream shared an unsure glance. "I don't really think that's the best thing for Sonic," Amy bit on her lip. "I just think Sonic isn't really in touch with his feelings. It's probably just a boy phase. Of course people can live on not dating. It's not like he is alone. Everyone in this whole town is here for him."

Amy thought of the idea of Sonic dating. Sonic could virtually get any girl he had wanted. Amy was pretty sure that he was any girl's dream guy. For a hedgehog, Sonic was physically attractive with a unique color and thick quills. His eyes were wonderfully green. Just one look from him made her knees feel strange, as if she might fall over. Amy bowed her head to concentrate on folding her towel so no one could see her blush.

"Or he could be gay," Rouge laughed. Both hedgehogs looked at her with shocked expressions. Vanilla decided it was time for her to tune out all conversation going on in the room while she finished with her final work.

"What's wrong with that?" Cream asked, confused as to why Rouge was laughing.

"Nothing," the bat shrugged, "it would just be ironic." Cream still held a blank expression, feeling as if she was missing something. Rouge sighed with a roll of her eyes. "A lot of girls like Sonic," she explained, "so it would be funny if it turned out that none of those girls had any chance with him because he would rather make out with their brothers."

Amy's cheeks became more visibly red. She shut down the image that flashed in her head of Sonic locking lips with Shadow.

She turned to Aleena who had an uncomfortable look on her face. "This must be strange to talk about for you," Amy sympathised with the woman. Aleena silently nodded her head up and down.

Rouge quickly clapped her hands together suddenly. "I just got the perfect idea," she exclaimed. Rouge hopped down from the island to turn and face Cream and Amy.

"Oh no," Cream mumbled to herself, fearing what Rouge could possibly say. It wouldn't be the first time that Rouge tried to pull something. Amy was still suspicious of the bat ever since Rouge allowed for her to get drunk off of a spiked drink. Amy knew better than to drink anything the sneaky woman could possibly hand her.

"Okay keep an open mind," the bat urged them. "Haven't you guys ever wondered what our peculiar, blue hedgehog would be like on a date?"

"No," Cream instantly said with an impassive look. Amy on the other hand stayed silent. She knew Rouge meant with other people, but Amy had randomly day dreamed of a date with Sonic times before. She doubted it would ever happen to her. Amy was certain that Sonic viewed her only as some sort of sister. She cringed inwardly at the fact that she was stuck in the friend zone.

Rouge rolled her eyes. She ignored Cream for the moment. "I say we set him up on a date," Rouge suggested with a hint of excitement. It had been said before that she was a love expert and had the power to make anyone a power couple.

"I don't really think that's a good idea," Amy tried to reason. The thought of Sonic being alone with someone else made a part of her ache. "Also," Amy included, "how could we possibly get him into something like that."

"Easy!" Rouge snapped her fingers. "It could just be a group date," Rouge folded her hands together, "we won't tell him but then end up meeting with his date. I could think of some way to guilt him into staying so that he wont ditch."

"But-"

"Amy!" Rouge exasperatedly rolled her eyes. "Stop questioning me and just go along with it! Don't you think this would be an interesting... experiment?"

Amy was quiet for a few moments. It didn't feel right to force Sonic into anything. She remembered how he could be moody at times. It seemed forever ago since Sonic had almost blew up fight in front of her. He, at the time, really wanted to be left alone. Amy could now look back and respect his need for privacy, even if she didn't agree with him running off without telling anyone. It didn't sit right with her to meddle.

"You guys can go," Cream said while shaking her head slightly.

"You could come with Tails," Rouge innocently suggested.

Vanilla, who was prepared to finally leave, gazed directly at Cream. The younger rabbit gave Rouge a warning look, something that contrasted her usually sweet nature. Cream hadn't mentioned anything to Vanilla before of her growing closer and closer to the two-tailed fox. She wanted to hold of the awkward talk about boys as long as she possibly could.

"Fine," Rouge sighed. "What about you, Amy?" she hopefully glanced at the pink hedgehog.

"I don't think so," Amy slowly spoke unsure of herself. Following one of Rouge's plans could possibly get her in trouble with Sonic, whom she had worked so hard to come close to. "Also, I would be an odd wheel," Amy reasoned, "since I don't have a boyfriend like you."

"Nonsense!" Rouge waved her excuse off. "I have a lot of connections. I could ask Shadow or get someone who would be dying to meet a sweet, little hedgie like yourself."

Amy scrunched her nose before snorting at the idea of Shadow going on a date. "Because the Ultimate Lifeform would love to go on some cheesy outing," Amy sarcastically commented.

"Point noted," Rouge nodded in agreement. "Then I'll just get a friend. Who knows? It might even be a familiar face."

Amy wasn't sure what Rouge meant by that. She still looked on edge about the bat's idea. It took a few moments of hesitation before Amy finally gave in.

Aleena grinned, wondering if this would do Sonic any good.

* * *

><p>"Shadow!" Sonic called throughout the empty house. It seemed as lifeless as ever. The blue hedgehog sighed in disappointment. He was really hoping to find the only person he could really talk to. With nothing better to do, Sonic decided to just wait for Shadow to appear.<p>

Feeling rather bored, Sonic began to go though the book cases. He had always wondered if all Shadow ever done in his free time was read. Sonic couldn't understand what was so interesting between all the papers.

Sonic randomly picked out one with a laminated spine. The cover showed outer space with a planet right in the center. Sonic usually would have figured it to be Mobius but could tell by the writing that it was in fact Earth.

Sonic hadn't been too impressed by the planet. He did make a new friend but most humans there had a strange culture, or at least strange to him. It was very alien that there wasn't a single creature other than humans who had the ability to speak with words, disincluding the parrot. Even the hedgehogs were almost completely different.

Sonic was able to speak Earthly languages but failed miserably at trying to read any. He found himself just looking at the geographical pictures.

Sonic set the book down and tried to find something he could recognize. Half of the shelf seemed to be basically textbooks. Sonic knew that Shadow hadn't had any real education since he had been with Eggman's grandfather. Since then, Shadow had actually been self taught. Since he was designed, Shadow's mind was already of average intelligence, yet the dark hedgehog always found that there was more to learn.

Green eyes scanned over it all. Some items were clearly older than others with cracked edges. Sonic pulled out the notes Shadow had taken on Eggman. Shadow had personally despised Eggman ever since he had felt used on the arc. Sonic wondered why Shadow never really attacked Eggman head on in the end. He knew that if Shadow ever tried to, he could really defeat Eggman. Of course then Sonic would have to stop Shadow since he didn't support murder. If anything, Shadow had only bothered to approach Eggman when Sonic's team requested it.

Sonic flipped open the notes. The latest entry was dated back in January. He furrowed his eyebrows when reading it. All Shadow had written were three simple words.

"_Eggman is crazy._"

Sonic blinked at the words. He did always think Eggman wasn't fully there upstairs but what could have caused for Shadow to write that? Sonic for awhile stopped thinking about the dangers of Eggman. He figured that the old man decided to retire. Eggman was probably even just bluffing when he threatened to kill Sonic.

"He would never kill anyone," Sonic scoffed to himself. At the time, he was a bit shaken up and nervous of whatever attempt Eggman would throw at him. Now, Sonic thought of his worrying to be silly.

Sonic could easily contradict himself. "_A lot of weird things had happened the past year,_" he silently commented. "_Eggman disappeared, Cryssi pretty much went off the face of the planet along with her dad and the chaos emeralds are getting more... chaotic._"

"What are you doing?"

Sonic jumped at the voice. For a moment he had forgotten how cold Shadow's tone could be. Sonic smiled at the annoyed hedgehog. "I was obviously waiting for you," Sonic set down the reading material.

"And that involved going through my stuff?" Shadow almost growled. Sonic noted that he was in a worse mood than usual but didn't speak much on it. Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. He would really appreciate having his privacy concealed. Is that too much to ask for?

"Look," Sonic said in a more serious manner, "I don't want to fight. I just kinda needed someone to go to."

Shadow looked bored and slightly annoyed, "And there isn't anyone else to go to?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nope," he said while popping the "p." Shadow remained silent, giving Sonic his cue to continue speaking. "My mom is kind of here," Sonic scratched the back of his head as a nervous tick, "not here here as in your house but I mean in the general area. She got kinda pissed that I stopped writing to her and now insists on staying. I don't really know what is up with her but she's now trying to kinda push me to be more normal or whatever you'd call it."

Shadow was slightly surprised that the queen managed to sneak away to see her son. He figured it would be bound at one point that she would want to see Sonic. Shadow never had a true parental figure himself but figures that at some point a mother would worry. "She's probably just acting on instincts or whatever you'd call it."

"But nothing is wrong," Sonic pressed rather defensively. Shadow raised an eyebrow at Sonic's attitude. "I just don't get why she isn't as understanding as she was 7 years ago."

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at Sonic imagining a small child. Something about Sonic that Shadow didn't like was that he could be rather oblivious. "That was 7 years ago you idiot, " Shadow snapped. "Of course she probably changed like most people. Hell, even you changed over the past 7 _months_."

Sonic flinched into a confused expression, "What do you mean?" He saw himself as the same old Sonic he had ever been. It's strange how one person would never notice a difference in themselve yet an outsider could see it a mile away.

"Nothing," Shadow rolled his eyes. "Just think of how she sees everything. To her, this was probably some sort of mental rehab for you. If anything, Aleena was probably expecting for you to come back from the dead in the kingdom."

"I was never dead," Sonic mused over the thoughts of his old home. His mind could no longer picture a crisp image of the halls that he had ran through many times. The castle was just blurred colors that held no meaning to his heart. He couldn't even remember how many rooms there had been. "I was just deemed missing," Sonic briefly explained.

"You're probably now legally dead," Shadow shrugged, "maybe that freaked your mother out. Not that I would ever dream of it, but I believe if I were to have a son who wanted nothing to do with me, even though I loved him very much, was declared dead and I had to lie to everyone around me about him being alive then I guess I would find that displeasing."

Sonic gaped at Shadow's blunt tone. He forgot how blunt Shadow could be. Sonic thought of his mother. He tried his best to fully understand the life of his mom. Sonic suddenly felt pressure in his head. His throat clenched into a dry feeling. Was this guilt? Or pity for the way Aleena had lost her only husband? The fact that her son truly never wanted to hold the title of the royal family.

Sonic never meant to push away his mom. He didn't want to abandon her with a huge weight on her shoulders. All the hedgehog occupied himself with was the fear of the past catching up to him. "Am I that horrible of a son?" he asked himself.

"Of course I don't think I'm capable of such... dramatic feelings," Shadow added to himself with his index finger pressed against his lower lip.

Sonic found Shadow incredulous."Are you ignoring me?" Sonic demanded of the other hedgehog.

"Well what do you expect?" the critical Shadow turned his shoulder towards Sonic. He looked out the window to the smaller heaps of snow. "Do you want me to sympathize with you? If you want a certain reaction from me then you're better off just day dreaming about a conversation than going to an actual person."

Sonic blinked for a moment before lowering his gaze. He had to admit having someone tell him he wasn't selfish would have been comforting, but he knew it wasn't right. "I guess not," Sonic felt defeated.

Shadow turned to look Sonic directly in the eyes. His red pierced the usually lively green. "Listen," Shadow said more business like, "I'm not saying you have to go apologise to her since I know you're awkward and all but at least try to make a effort to be more open to her. Honestly, all of your friends would be more suspicious of you if you did act pointedly distant to her."

Sonic found a grin spreading. "That's what I need to hear." The corners of Shadow's lips twitched. He had to admit he did feel some pride in himself for saying something right. Over the years Shadow had developed a talent for looking at situations with more logic than he used to.

"One question," Shadow broke the moments of silent thinking, "out of every place in the world, how could your mom have found you?"

Sonic was amazed how Aleena had hunt him down, even if she did have a hint. "I haven't really talked to her much but from what I believed she had asked a woman where she could find me. It was originally her who had sent me to this town. It's funny how well she actually knows me since I found it so perfect."

Sonic found himself drifting into a daze. He thought of all the four seasons that he got to experience. He was most importantly fond of the space he was able to run through.

Shadow stared at Sonic, who seemed unaware. He lightly shook his head, wondering how Sonic will manage to climb up from the grave he buried.

* * *

><p>"Can I ask where we are going?" Sonic frowned when he looked around and noticed they had just left Emerald Town. It was rare to go on an outing that required leaving the comfort zone, let alone the odd mix of Rouge, Knuckles, Sonic and Amy hanging out.<p>

Sonic had a theory that Rouge was up to something. He knew her enough that Rouge never planned anything out of innocent intentions.

Amy on the other hand was fully aware of what was going on. She was sure to stay a distance away from Sonic as they took the half hour walk to the nearest bus stop. Found it unavoidable being stuck between him and a window after Rouge dragged Knuckles to sit next to her.

The pink hedgehog tried her best to occupy herself by looking out the window. It was currently the middle of March and the weather had lightened up. The packed snow was currently in the process of melting, causing large puddles to form and drown any of the grass that managed to peak its way.

Amy ignored Sonic's question. She usually wasn't bad at keeping a secret, but for some reason she found it hard to deceive Sonic when she knew he would most likely not enjoy the outcome.

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"This bus is heading to the St. Nicholas Carnival," an elderly lady supplied Sonic with an answer. He quirked an eyebrow. He wondered about a carnival. He had never been to one before nor did he hold interest to go to one. From what Sonic had known, Carnivals were a combination of greasy food, rigged games and teens puking up everything they didn't manage to digest.

Sonic outwardly cringed before looking over to Amy. "Are we really?" he asked with slight dread. She forced a smile in return.

"I want off," Sonic quickly said, jumping to his feet. Rouge didn't look alarmed while Amy reached out and wrapped her arms around his leg. Knuckles also carried an amused expression as he looked upon the scene. The red echidna was well aware of the "experiment" Rouge was implying. Instead if arguing against it, he decided to just go along with it.

"Sonic just hang out with us," Amy commanded as she tried to pull him back to sit down. Citizens and tourists on the bus turned to look at the strange pair. "You're acting weird," Sonic commented as he looked down at Amy.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "What is it with hedgehogs being so dramatic?" she wondered aloud. Knuckles next to her chuckled. It was a common trait amongst hedgehogs to catch attention because of their behaviors.

"You all are acting weird," Sonic pointed accusingly at each of his friends. Before either one of them could respond the bus jolted to a halt. Sonic fell forward just as Amy had let go of him. An elderly chipmunk nearby chuckled at Sonic. She thought of the clumsiness was adorable.

Sonic was first to hop off the bus. Looking up he saw a familiar pair in front of him who seemed to be expecting their arrival. Sonic paused for a moment in confusion as the young girl eagerly waved at him.

In all her glory stood Persephone in her bright white fur. She wore more clothing since the last time Sonic had seen her at the beach. Her figure was bundled away underneath a thick coat. It was a wonder how Persephone didn't look sweaty and over heated.

Amy suddenly felt self conscious being faced with the beautiful hedgehog. Persephone had the looks of a goddess. She had the more hair-like quills that Amy had always wanted. Persephone's were soft and curly; Amy only saw her quills as short and plump.

"Hey Pinkie!" a voice next to Persephone suddenly called out. Amy's eyes became more wide when she looked upon a familiar lemur. She had forgotten about Enzo and their game of intense volleyball. All of the events seemed to have belonged to a different life.

Amy figured that he was her blind date that Rouge had set up. Looking at him helped all of the memories of awhile ago come back to her in one whole wave. Amy smiled as she remembered the way she had blushed when he hugged her goodbye.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you again," Enzo said as Amy came closer to him. Both of them held big grins. Amy poked his arm, "I didn't know you kept in touch with Rouge."

Enzo shrugged. "I didn't until a few weeks ago," he explained as they began walking onto the fairgrounds, "apparently someone had given Rouge their number and she randomly called up asking for me and Persephone. It was pretty weird but I don't mind."

Both Enzo and Amy glanced over at their four other friends. Rouge and Knuckles held the perfect look of a couple. Both walked close together while Rouge held on to Knuckles' arm. Amy smiled at them. She then looked over to Sonic and Persephone. Amy was suddenly aware of the fact that Sonic had yet to realize he was on a date. Amy hoped she could sneak in a quick moment to talk to him without hurting Persephone's feelings. It would be likely that Sonic would run off after finding out.

"He's not used to this thing, is he?" Enzo chimed while looking at the unfitting pair.

Sonic kept looking around him with an unimpressed expression. He was oblivious to the constant look Persephone held on him.

"No," Amy admitted, "Rouge wanted to see how Sonic would act on a date since he hasn't been on one from what I've heard. We all knew that he would never agree to one so she set this up. I still don't fully think it's right but I can't help being curious on how Sonic would be courting a girl." Amy chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Well you don't have to look so bummed about it," Enzo laughed while patting Amy on the back.

Amy quizzically looked at him. Had she looked upset? No. Amy shook her head. "I don't know what you are talking about," she folded her arms.

Enzo shrugged while looking returning his gaze to the two other hedgehogs. "Okay, I'll pretend you didn't just completely lie right now," Enzo gave Amy a sly smile. Amy glared at him without making a single comment to defend herself. "So I'm guessing he isn't really aware of what's going on," the lemur gave a not-so-sure nudge in Sonic's direction.

"I swear he isn't stupid," Amy automatically said. Both chuckled amongst themselves. "I should tell him, shouldn't I?" Amy wondered. Enzo nodded while sending Amy of to drift in Sonic's direction.

Rouge and Knuckles walked far ahead of the remaining four. Each took turns every once in awhile to look back at their remaining friends. Knuckles leaned closer to Rouge. "Do you think this will end well," he murmured into her ear. "Of course not," Rouge smirked. Knuckles shook his head in disapproval.

"Hey Sonic," Amy whispered, she being sure that Persephone could not hear a word they were saying.

Sonic glanced between the two women hedgehogs. Amy could tell he was piecing something together. "I'm on a date, aren't I?" he bluntly asked, even though he was already sure of the answer.

"Sorry," Amy said. She didn't want to make Sonic upset. It was never her plan but she did fully agree to go with it.

Sonic stared at her for a moment. He found the situation to be incredulous. "I'm going home," Sonic quickly said. Before he could turn away Amy locked an iron grip on his arm. Sonic was confused by her scolding look. "You will not be going anywhere," she snapped at him. Sonic yanked his arm out of her hold. "Why not?" he mirrored her annoyance.

Persephone was oblivious to the two. She excitedly looked at each stand. The smell of funnel cake swarmed around them. The white hedgehog could have sworn that she felt the warmth of the all the food.

"Do you see that there is a girl here who is expecting you to court her?" Amy gestured to Persephone.

Sonic didn't seem to be impressed. He shrugged his shoulders, "So what?"

"So," Amy rolled her eyes, "if you are actually nice I might not beat you with my hammer." Amy shoved the blue hedgehog closer to Persephone. Sonic casted a glare back in her general direction.

Amy returned to Enzo's side. "I think that should be good enough," she sighed.

"It's just one date," Enzo commented, "what could be the big deal?"

Amy wasn't sure herself. Why was Sonic so bothered with dating? She had never seen him take interest in anyone. Then she remembered the problem that had gone down between him and Cryssi. The two had gone from being close friends to total strangers. "You never really know with that guy," Amy settled on saying.

"Well then," Enzo gently took Amy's hand, "we can just leave them to solve whatever problems they are having and go have some fun." Amy blushed at the sudden contact. She quietly nodded her head and let Enzo lead the way.

Their first stand was a ring toss. Amy, displeased at the sight of chao all locked in a cage, "accidentally" threw the rings full force into the cage and breaking the door, setting all of the chao free. Many of the chao flew by Amy, giving her kisses and hugs of gratitude. Amy giggled while ignoring the sour looks of the venders.

She was unaware Sonic glancing at her and Enzo every other minute.

"Um hello?" Persephone waved her hand in his face, capturing his attention. Sonic blinked a couple times before giving her most of his consideration. "What?" he cluelessly asked. "You completely zoned out there," Persephone suspiciously folded her arms.

She glanced in the direction Sonic kept looking. Persephone furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the only possible thing he could be looking at were their other to friends.

"So how close are you and Amy?" she asked, trying to make innocent small talk.

Sonic was thrown off guard at the random question. "_Why is she asking about Amy_?" he wondered to himself. He looked at Amy who laughed at something Enzo had said. He recognized that laugh. It was when Amy couldn't control herself and would end up out of breath. He found her laughter contagious when her cheeks would turn bright pink and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Amy and I are just friends," Sonic purposely looked away from the other hedgehog and lemur. He didn't feel comfortable with the question. Of course Amy was only his friend, did he really need to explain that?

"You keep staring at her," Persephone frowned, "and I'm no expert but when you take a girl on a date, you aren't supposed to openly stare at other people."

Looking down at Persephone, Sonic realised that she wasn't happy. He really wasn't either since he truly hated any carnival and didn't even fully agree to coming on a date. Persephone was pretty, but Sonic didn't want to hold her. He didn't want to give her his undivided attention or treat her like a flower. It would be much easier if he could just be with her as a acquaintance or friend.

"I have an idea," Sonic suddenly blurted. He knew something that would most likely make Persephone have a better time and make himself more comfortable around here.

"What is it?" Persephone questioned. She was confused at the spontaneous life that Sonic held.

"Have you ever gone as fast as a bullet?" Sonic grinned.

Persephone had suddenly remembered that the first time she had met Sonic he had the ability to run fast. She had never seen him in a full out run. Persephone only caught glimpses of him bursting forward in a game of volleyball.

"Really?" she smiled with excitement.

Running always helped Sonic calm down. No matter who he was with, running allowed for him to focus. Even if he was in a battle against Eggman, if Sonic ran he had the upperhand.

With Persephone holding onto his shoulders, Sonic took off, leaving the horrid carnival behind.

Amy, Rouge, Knuckles, and Enzo all gaped at the figures. The colors of blue and white faded away behind them until they completely vanished.

"Did they really just leave?" Amy asked with disbelief.

Rouge groaned, "Well so much for that."

"You know Sonic is really smart," Knuckles grinned as he spoke, "he found something he likes to do while not having to talk to her."

"Why wouldn't he talk to her?" Enzo asked.

"It's hard to hear over the wind," Amy shrugged. Everyone turned and looked at her.

"You would know," Rouge muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. Amy fully well knew what Rouge was saying. "He takes you running all the time. It's like a weird sacred bond between you two."

"Or I just like it when he takes me running," Amy retorted.

Knuckles snorted at that. Amy crossed her arms while giving a challenging look at the couple.

Was Amy really that close to Sonic? A small part of her was secretly enjoying the way they thought of Amy and Sonic's relationship. Not that there was a relationship, since Amy was fully aware of being stuck in the friendzone. But was is bad for her to enjoy people getting ideas of there possibly being something more?

"Even half a year ago you wouldn't stop looking at him," Enzo chuckled. Amy was truly confused at that statement. That was before she even had a crush on Sonic. Amy didn't think she always longed after Sonic.

"That's not true," she huffed.

"Well it's definitely true now," Rouge slyly smiled while nudging Amy.

The pink girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said while stomping off to play more games. Enzo tailed after her while laughing.

"You are really stubborn," he commented as they stopped at the next ripoff.

Amy did her best to ignore any thought of Sonic. It was actually easy for the rest of the evening when being with Enzo. He was actually really charming. Amy wondered what it would be like if she could be with him. She figured it would be less complicated than wanting to be with Sonic.

For some reason, Amy instantly felt guilty after saying that. It wasn't like she had to have a devotion to Sonic.

Sonic and Persephone didn't return to the bus stop until late. Amy stood next to Enzo. She held a purple stuffed hedgehog close to her chest. It was for sure the softest thing that someone had ever given her. Enzo had won it after guilting a teenage girl for a clearly rigged game where he had to knock over a vase that was clearly nailed to the ground. Amy felt bad after seeing the teen sweat when they had realized they had been caught. But too bad to take the grand prize.

"And they finally return," Rouge announced as Persephone pulled away from Sonic. Both had a blank expression. Amy furrowed her eyebrows as all Persephone had done was murmur a bye to Sonic before standing a safe distance behind Enzo. Her entire face glowed red.

"What happened between them?" Amy asked Enzo.

Enzo glanced between the two, "Something awkward probably."

"Awkward?"

Enzo nodded.

The lemur ignored the topic. He really didn't want to bother with other people. With the bus arriving to take Amy back to Emerald Town Enzo pulled her into a hug. Amy gratefully returned the hug. Even though it was technically a date, Amy parted from today with a new friend.

"Good luck," Enzo whispered with a warm smile.

Amy was confused as he suddenly pulled away and turned towards Persephone. Amy then faced her friends as they got back onto the bus.

"What happened to you two?" Amy asked Sonic as they scanned for a couple of seats.

Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I kind of dropped her in the mud." Sonic glanced back at Amy to be met with an unbelievable expression. "You have got to be kidding me," she said with chuckling. Sonic shrugged. "At least now she won't be tempted to call me."

Amy grew silent for a moment. "You really didn't want to go on a date with her," she pondered out loud.

Sonic sat down next to a window, giving amy the aisle seat. "I never said I wanted to go on one in the first place," Sonic mumbled.

"Why are you so against it?" Amy interrogated him.

Sonic could have sworn he was talking to his own mom at the moment. He wondered how long it would be until Tails began trying to get him to date.

For the rest of the ride Sonic was silent, avoiding the question. He found it easy to avoid anything he didn't want to face.

* * *

><p><strong>And to the anonymous reviewer: this is not the end!<strong>


	27. Turn of Tides

**I got so upset because after I had way over half of this chapter written I accidentally deleted my written file and not the old unused one I meant. I'm so stupid sometimes you guys don't even know. Good thing I already have basic plot points written out for the rest of the story so I promise I know what I'm doing.**

**Chapter: Turn of Tides**

* * *

><p>"Cream, you'll be fine."<p>

Amy smiled at Cream through the mirror. She kept running a brush over the rabbit's fur. It was soft and freshly cleaned. Cream was certain that she was supposed to smell nice. She was supposed to have a memorable scent, right?

"I'm really nervous," Cream admitted with a small smile. Her knee wouldn't stop bouncing at rapid paces. Cream unnecessarily straightened out the ends of her dress. It was a simple, light blue, longsleeve dress with a flaring skirt. She tried her best to wear something that didn't show she was trying.

Amy smiled at her younger friend. When she had first met Cream, she noticed the way the rabbit shied around Tails. Amy had thought of it as cute and now she was proud that Cream was going on an official date.

"Trust me, Cream," Amy rested her hands on Cream's shoulders, "this will be the second best day of your life."

Cream furrowed her eyebrows. She tilted her head back to look up at Amy. "What will be my first?"

Amy slyly grinned at Cream, "Your wedding day."

Cream gasped. Her cheeks heated up at the idea. Cream, embarrassed, hid her face in the palms of her hands. Amy laughed at her younger friend. "You never know," Amy smiled down at Cream. She set the brush down at the nightstand before sitting on the edge of Cream's bed.

"So tell me," Amy rested her elbows on her knees, "where is he taking you?"

Cream kept trying to suppress her smile. She couldn't stop since over a week ago when Tails had worked up the courage to ask her to go on a date with him. The rabbit wondered if the tales of Amy's outing with Enzo had inspired Tails to make a move. "It's a surprise," she cooed. Cream was thinking of the 100 things Tails could possible take her to do. She wouldn't even mind if they had just stayed indoors.

Of course being on the verge of April Cream had hoped to experience the fresh air of the new spring. Since the snow had melted everyone had been trying to get outside as much as possible until the April showers take over.

"I didn't know Tails could be so spontaneous," Amy teased.

Cream didn't bother with much of a response. She just shrugged with a happy smile. Nothing could ruin her mood. "I can't tell if I'm going to throw up of happiness or nervousness," Cream pressed the back of her hand to her forehead.

Amy chuckled at Cream's behavior. "Sweetheart, people don't throw up when they're happy," Amy shook her head. "You aren't sick."

"Why do I feel sick?" Cream wondered aloud.

"Those are just butterflies in your stomach," Amy said from knowing experience. She had been on dates before and knew how nerveracking they could make a strong willed person feel. She even felt butterflies when she was just around Sonic.

Amy walked over the Cream's bedroom window. She opened it, letting a draft blow at the curtains. Almost right away, Cheese flew into the room straight from the chao garden.

"Whoa," Amy jumped back from being startled. She hadn't been seeing much of the companion around with Cream. The chao tended to go on his own adventures.

Cream smiled at her little friend who came close to her. The chao hugged her shoulder while pressing his forehead to Cream's cheek. "Cheese is very comforting," Cream smiled down at her little friend.

"Trust me, Cream," Amy smiled, "he is probably just as nervous as you are."

* * *

><p>Sonic laughed as Tails momentarily stared at his shoes, seeming to forget how to tie them. Even the genus couldn't think straight at the moment. "Need a little help there?" Sonic asked with a taunting tone. Tails glared up at him and began to fumble with the laces himself. "No, I do not," he grumbled. Sonic laughed while patting the fox on the back.<p>

The blue hedgehog was surprised when he had found out Tails had worked up the courage to ask Cream out. He had always knew that there was definitely something between the two but never figured that Tails would actually date her without meddling from someone else. It was a habit of the boys to shy away and suppress their feelings. Sonic knew that Cream would never turn down Tails, yet Tails always feared rejection.

It was common to fear outcomes that are unlikely. Fear is no problem in social standards unless if it prevents a person to overcome an imaginary obstacle. Luckily, Tails was able to climb above his fear and reach out to Cream.

"Looks like you're growing up," Sonic pretended to wipe a tear. Sonic, continuing to act to ball his eyes out, hugged Tails's head close to his chest.

The younger fox twisted in Sonic's solid grip. "Can you not suffocate me?!" his muffled cry pleaded.

Sonic only then held on tighter. "I am performing the role of your mother as she says good bye when her little boy becomes a little man," Sonic informed Tails.

Tails rolled his eyes. He knew fully well that mothers did not act in such a crazy manner. Or he assumed so. Could Vanilla be fretting over Cream at the moment? "Are women really this crazy?" Tails wondered.

Sonic let go of Tails. He shrugged and leaned back into the couch, "I think everyone is a little crazy, it's just that with women it's more noticeable." Tails nodded his head at the new information. "Just don't tell anyone that I said that," Sonic added as an after thought. He really didn't want to face the wrath of Amy's hammer or just Rouge in general.

"Speaking of women," Tails tried to control the conversation, "what exactly had happened at that carnival thing you had gone to?"

Sonic groaned at the annoying idea Rouge had came up with. "I really don't want to relive that," Sonic admitted.

Tails frowned at Sonic, "It couldn't be that bad."

"Well maybe not to other people but to me it was."

"Just tell me," Tails sighed while rolling his eyes. Sometimes he found that his best friend was overreacting. Sonic had the tendency to make a big deal out of something that wasn't, which confused the fox greatly. It required an unnecessary amount of effort. He didn't understand Sonic's way of thinking.

Sonic figured it wouldn't hurt if Tails knew. Someone he trusted wouldn't go blurting all of his misfortunes all over the place. "Okay fine," he said defeatedly.

"So we arrive at a carnival," Sonic immediately launched back into his memory, "and I hate carnivals. Who even has a carnival in the middle of March? Anyways, when we get there there's a boy and a girl waiting for us. It was that Enzo guy and Persephone that we met over the summer. I didn't even recognize them at first. I was very suspicious of the way all of them were acting and guess what? They all set me up on a date! Even Amy was in on it!"

Tails was well aware that Sonic didn't date. Sonic never showed any interest in the dating scene. If anything he had avoided it as much as possible. Tails was certain that Rouge had planned to meddle with Sonic's love life, of course she wouldn't take into consideration how Sonic would feel.

"Amy told me to stay because if I left I would hurt Persephone's feelings," Sonic continued, "so I did. I then realized that neither of us were having any fun so I decided to take her on a run. She seemed more happy after I showed her to a bunch of places. Actually she got a little too happy."

Sonic frowned as he reached up to scratch the back of his head. Tails recognized that Sonic was growing uncomfortable. "She had kissed me on my cheek and I instantly dropped her. She was no longer happy at the moment. Honestly, I couldn't care less but she had some colorful things to say to me."

Tails shook his head in disappointment, "I understand that you didn't want to be there, but don't you think that was a little rude?"

"It was a complete accident!" Sonic defended himself. Tails stared unconvinced at Sonic. "I swear!" Sonic held up his hands as a fortification. Both boys chuckled.

Tails glanced over at the clock. He wondered how fast he should walk to Cream's. He didn't want to arrive too early and seem eager, yet if he arrived late he wondered if Cream would think that he didn't care. It was completely wrong. He cared a lot. He cared so much that it was giving him a headache.

"Do you think it would be needy if I showed up early?" Tails wondered out loud.

Sonic looked over to the same clock. "Uh Tails," he snapped the fox out of his self wonder, "I'm certain that that's the clock that is ten minutes behind."

The foxes eyes widened. He jumped up and ran out the door close enough to Sonic speeds. The hedgehog was left behind laughing.

* * *

><p>"Tails, you weren't late," Cream laughed for the fifth time. The two were walking so close to one another that their shoulders bumped every so often.<p>

Tails had flew the X-Tornado with Cream in the back seat. She wasn't sure where he was taking her, but apparently it was far away. Their flight had been about half an hour long. Tails had landed it in the middle of no where. He had claimed to want some time to walk to the place so she wouldn't see it right away.

Tails was in fact two minutes early, not that those two minutes made a big deal. Cream had been relieved as soon as he arrived. Her manners had prevented her from expressing her discomfort with having Amy, Aleena, and her mother suffocate her. Tails was her savior from the craze.

"I was just making sure," Tails mumbled suddenly feeling embarrassed. Since when had it become so important what Cream had thought of him? He hadn't cared much for what anyone remarked about his quirks, but now the rabbit was in front of him and she was all he could think about. He wanted to be perfect in her eyes.

"You don't have to be too careful," Cream said. She wanted Tails to as comfortable around her as he possibly could. Cream had read enough stories to know that sometimes dating can ruin a long lasted friendship. She didn't want that. Cream could never imagine such a nightmare happening.

The two continued to walk side by side. They had walked through the center of the town and continued down the dirt road. Cream glanced around her. No buds had began to sprout yet but already animals began to awake in the new season.

"So where are we going?" Cream asked Tails.

"I said it was a surprise," he sheepishly grinned. Cream pouted while crossing her arms. Tails had to laugh at her cuteness. "Sorry, Cream, but I wont let you blow my plans."

"Can I atleast have a hint?" she hopefully asked.

Tails thought over it for a moment. Cream was intelligent. What could he possibly say without giving it away? "It's something memorable," he finally said. Tails began to pick up his pace with Cream by his side. "Come on," he lightly dragged her with him, "it's not too long of a walk but I want to make sure we have enough time." Cream smiled at Tails. He was always worrying about the time.

Somewhere along the walk Tails had held onto Cream's elbow. That led to Cream eventually holding back onto his arm. Neither really noticed. It was natural like breathing; they didn't think about it but it felt right.

"_Memorable_," the word echoed in Cream's head. Had she been here before. The rabbit didn't think so. The trees around her all looked the same, she wouldn't be able to remember seeing a particular tree.

Tails was first to break out of the woods. Cream noticed a brief hesitation in his movement as he almost came to a complete stop. She wondered if it was her making him nervous. She had to admit that she was filled with anxiety before but just being alone with Tails was actually soothing.

Cream, out of the scattered trees, was finally able to get a clear view ahead of her. She felt silly for thinking that it could possibly be herself to make Tails nervous. She now knew that it was something different.

Ahead there stood Cosmo. Cream hadn't seen her since she was first buried. Cosmo had grown bigger since before. Her branches curled out and spread around the base of the tree. Some hung low over the pond. Cosmo, no matter what form she was in, was always very beautiful.

A small picnic was set out next to the base of the tree. Cream suddenly felt extremely flattered that Tails had chosen her to show his intimate side with. Before the fox could speak in a sheepish manner the rabbit threw her arms around his neck.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Charmy held the oversized phone to his ear. He quickly pulled out a notepad and pen after realizing that the caller was another complaint about power outages. Charmy quickly promised that the team would get right on the case. "It's another one," he called out while hanging up.<p>

"Seriously?" Vector groaned as he walked into the "office" from the kitchen. "That's the tenth call this week! It's only wednesday!" Vector thoughtfully tapped his chin.

"It could be just something wrong with the electric circuit," Espio suggested. If that was the case, then Tails could easily fix any annoyances.

"But how would that explain everything turning on and off on their own?" Vector retorted.

Charmy's eyes widened. He pulled dramatically pulled down on his antennas while crying, "It's a ghost!"

Espio rolled his eyes. He didn't believe in ghosts. "No, it's not," he hit the side of the bee's head, knocking the crazy out of him. "Ghosts aren't real."

"You don't know that."

Right on cue, the room went dark. The phone line had been disconnected. Any computer screen went blank. The lighting in the entire base went out.

A shrill scream was heard. Charmy blindly jumped out towards the closest body he could find. He held on as tight as he could to the warmth while chanting claims of a ghost. The person cleared their throat. Charmy looked up to a dark face illuminated by a flashlight. He recognized the haunting red eyes. Charmy's mind instantly clicked to the fact that he had grabbed onto Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Do you mind?" Shadow glared at the bee.

"How did you get in here?" Charmy backed away as far from Shadow as possible. He would have preferred to be faced with a demon than Shadow, unless if those two were the same things.

Amy peeked out from behind Shadow. "You know keeping a key underneath the welcome mat is really obvious," Amy observed. She shined the flashlight at each detective member.

Vector winced at the sudden brightness. "Thanks for the surprise visit," he sounded unsure. The crocodile wasn't used to seeing Shadow. He wasn't even aware that Amy had spoken to Shadow before. To him, Shadow was almost still an outsider. He never talked much to them other than the times in the past when he had tried to destroy them, especially Sonic. Yet the blue hedgehog managed to overlook that and become good friends with Sonic.

"Actually we cam here for some help," Amy walked further into the room. She opened the curtains so that the natural glow from the late evening could lighten the room as much as possible. "You guys are reliable inspectors, right?"

Charmy and Vector glanced between one another. Both just shrugged in a response. "Yes," Espio sighed, ignoring his barely capable companions.

"That's good enough," Amy smiled at them. "I was just at work when suddenly the power went out. I've heard that it's been happening a lot lately."

"We just got a complaint about one!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Shadow thinks it has to do with the chaos emeralds," Amy pointed to the green gem that Shadow pulled out. He flipped is over in his hands with a thoughtful expression.

Espio crossed his arms over his chest, a familiar manner that most of the guys seemed to do. "What exactly are we supposed to do?" he inquired.

"Help us get down to what exactly is going on," Shadow spoke up for the first time. The impatient hedgehog began tapping his foot. "The chaos emeralds are unpredictable. They haven't caused constant power outages in a while so something must be happening to them. The sooner we find out what is wrong with them, the sooner we are able to somehow calm them."

The three boys nodded their heads. "I'm just surprised that you guys came to us," Vector admitted.

Amy and Shadow shared a look. "We didn't exactly come to you first," she said sheepishly, "everyone else is busy."

"That makes more sense."

The power snapped back on. Everyone groaned while rubbing their eyes to the sudden brightness. Amy turned off her flashlight. She put it away into a small bag. She then pulled out a notebook and pen.

"First, I want to ask you guys a few questions," Amy sat down on a nearby sofa next to Espio. "When was the first time you got a call relating to a power disturbance?"

Charmy jumped up with his hand raised, he wanted to be the first person to answer the question. "I know! I know! It started roughly a month ago."

"But then they weren't as frequent," Vector included.

Amyy scribbled down their answers. "How often were they?"

"When we noticed that it was reoccuring, they were only happening once every couple days. Then, people would complain once a day, sometimes it was even the same people. Now we get a few calls a day."

"Are they just the power being cut out?"

"No!" Charmy furiously shook his head. "Sometimes things are just randomly turning on without having to push a button! It's a ghost!"

Amy awkwardly smiled at his outbursts. Shadow raised an eyebrow at the bee. He had thought that Charmy was a teenager yet he acted like a child.

"It's not a ghost," Shadow muttered.

"It's not a ghost," Amy repeated in a more polite manner.

"Chaos energy has the ability to manipulate other types of energy. That's the only explanation you'd understand."

Not catching onto the insult, Charmy quietly nodded. Amy glared at Shadow, who ignored her look as he continued to stare at the emerald. "Anyways," Amy slowly averted her gaze from him, "a few months ago, towards the beginning of the year, the energy levels began to change. It wasn't until recently that we noticed that the emeralds are affecting things in the town."

"This should have something to do with Eggman," Espio noted outloud.

"That's what we are thinking," Amy spoke on behalf of Sonic, "but Eggman disappeared about 10 months ago. We haven't heard a single thing from him since then."

"But weird things have happened since then," Espio said a little louder than he usually would.

The entire group fell silent for a few moments. What could Espio mean? On some level all of them knew what he meant. There was still doubt that anything could be linked to Eggman.

"What do you mean?" Amy finally questioned him.

Espio gave her blunt look, "You know what I mean. You came here last summer. At first Cryssi was all nice but then after Eggman left, it was like she left as well. And what ever happened to her dad? He just disappeared too. You never even got to meet him but he would never abandon his farm. That was our main source of income for food but now we have to have it delivered from the next town over."

People rarely talked about Cryssi anymore. It was almost as if she was being erased from their lives. "But I thought Cryssi just got too upset after Sonic had turned her down," Amy vaguely recalled. When she was first told that story, it had bothered her greatly, now it didn't mean much to her.

"That wouldn't explain her dad though."

"Have you ever thought that this was just a coincidence?"

"Maybe it is. But a girl like Cryssi suddenly going crazy isn't likely."

"People change..."

"Speaking of people changing, can we address Sonic's mood swings for a moment? After you showed up they've stopped for awhile. You wouldn't notice, but Sonic's been a lot more happy and opened than he's ever been before."

Amy bit down on her lip. She didn't know that Sonic was different, she couldn't notice since she hadn't known him for years. "That's weird?"

"Knowing Sonic, yes, it's weird. It's a good weird."

"What does this have to do with Eggman?"

"You show up out of nowhere, Eggman disappears, and then Sonic is happy. It's like you two are conspiring."

Amy narrowed her eyes. She stood up so that she could look down at the chameleon. "What are you implying?" she snapped.

Vector took it as his chance to step between the two. "He wasn't trying to accuse you of anything," the crocodile attempted to return to calm waters, "he was just making observations."

"You know what is really weird," Charmy cut into the conversation, "Aleena."

"That's rude," Vector scolded him.

"Not like that!" Charmy frantically defended himself. "I mean, Amy didn't show up out of nowhere. She came for a job and just ended up staying. Aleena, who apparently knew Sonic, came here for no reason really. The last time someone decided to move here for no reason was Sonic. Both of them never really talk about their lives before this. It's almost as if it was a big secret or something."

Everyone thoughtfully looked at Charmy. It was the first time Charmy said something that they took seriously. Shadow decided it was time for him to take control of the conversation. It was interesting for him to watch people discuss the truth of Sonic that they were left in the dark with but he couldn't allow for them to overthink it just yet.

"I remember right before Eggman left Sonic began making claims that Eggman wanted him dead," Shadow finally spoke while tucking away his emerald, "so he asked for me to kind of investigate Eggman. I found nothing really and not long after that Eggman was gone."

"Eggman wanted to kill Sonic?" Amy gasped. She remembered the very first time she had met Sonic he was battling Eggman. The blue hedgehog had played it off as if it was nothing. Amy then realized that Sonic was probably hiding that he was panicked.

Shadow dipped his head in confirming Amy's statement. "Finally, a little bit ago I found something. It did involve the master emerald, but it was a strange plan. Eggman couldn't make all of the emeralds act this way. He's not powerful enough to control emeralds."

"Unless he somehow knew that the emeralds would change."

Shadow thoughtfully inclined his head. He had not thought of it that way before. It was very well possible that Eggman knew. Shadow was intelligent, but he did not have a high IQ like Eggman. The "doctor" wasn't always wrong. "_But how exactly would he know?_" Shadow thought.

"It's just a suggestion," Amy said to Shadow's silence.

"But maybe you're right," Shadow spoke slowly, as if he was still thinking to himself. "If that's the case then there isn't anything we can do about the emeralds."

* * *

><p>Sonic was basking in the warm air. June was always a kind month. It rarely rained during this time, allowing for him to have solid ground to run on. It was never too hot or cold like the other months of the year.<p>

The world around him was just a blur. Today, he decided to try to push his limit. Sonic wanted to know how fast he could go. Rarely Sonic forced himself to break the sound barrier.

Aleena, who had been looking out of the rabbit's kitchen window, would occasionally see her son pass by as a blue blur. She sighed to herself. She was really disappointed that in the past couple months she was making no progress with her son. He rarely talked to her as she slowly stopped trying to force him to. It wouldn't be long until she just gave up and returned back to the kingdom.

Unknown to Sonic, there was another set of eyes watching him. Aleena wasn't the only person whose interesting is held by the striking hedgehog. In a distance, there was a man smirking.

"Doctor Eggman," a nervous voice chirped, "isn't this labeled as stalking?"

Eggman's evil joy turned into a cold hard stare. He quickly turned from the camera to the weak robot at his side. "Shut up!" he snarled. "I'm observing our fellow people," he returned his gaze back to the computer screen.

"But why?"

Eggman smirked at the screen. He began twisting the side of his glorious mustache. Ever since his newly acquired information about Sonic, he had modified his villainous plans. Eggman wanted to hurt the hedgehog and his friends on a more personal level. Just imagining the cocky Sonic wither from inside out made him fill with a bubbling happiness. Eggman could relate to a silly schoolgirl.

"I need to make sure things haven't changed since I've been gone," Eggman explained.

"But isn't that why you've sent the dog to watch them?"

"I swear if you start a question with 'but' one more time I will slowly take you apart, bit by bit," Eggman sneered. A vein began to pop out of his forehead.

Decoe winced just at the thought of the tortur. He analyzed the screen while thoroughly thinking of the reports delivered from Cryssi. She had sounded smug each time she'd given Eggman a piece of information, but with his knowledge of mortal behavior, he sensed pain.

Without Eggman, the town seemed to be doing fine. If anything, he would have assumed that everyone was actually happier on their own. The world continued on with Eggman. Decoe was loyal to Eggman as Eggman was his master, but a sudden doubt was registering in his gears. "Doctor," he was barely audible, "things have changed."

Eggman ignored the robot. He kept a frown while stroking his facial hair. "Soon it will be time."

* * *

><p><strong>I really didn't want to do just a time changing chapter that but it was necessary and I got a few of stuff in it that I wanted to. (Cream and Tails! Yessssssssss!)<strong>

**But FINALLY the next chapter I am extremely excited for is coming up! And all the chapters after that! I'm super pumped!**


	28. Think of the Princess

**Honestly, I have nothing to say here other than we can all appreciate spring break. I'll talk to yall later.**

**Chapter: Think of the Princess**

* * *

><p>Sonic was free. He didn't know why, but he felt elated. His only conclusion that something good was going to happen. Whenever something good happened, Sonic felt like running. It was what he was best at. Sonic skillfully weaved through the trees. The world around him slurred together. He only focused on the greenery ahead of him.<p>

It was times like this during the summer that Sonic was really laid back. Unlike last summer, this year wasn't as hot. The air was just right for everyone to enjoy nature without overheating or shivering from a breeze.

Surprisingly, Sonic found himself getting used to the presence of Aleena. She had decided to stay longer than he anticipated. Sonic knew that she couldn't stay for much more time. It would only be some time before the people start to question excuses of business trips Queen Aleena had fed them.

It became more and more common for Sonic to also wonder what exactly Sonia and Manic were like. It had been years since he's seen his older brother and sister. He didn't appreciate how often he thought about his family. It always gave him an unwelcomed feeling of guilt. He couldn't understand why he even felt guilty. Sonic argued with himself that he never did anything wrong, yet some form of doubt found a way to contradict that idea.

A rounded object appeared on center of Sonic's path. His reflexes went into action as fast as possible to prevent any collision. For once, Sonic found himself ungracefully skidding to a halt. His foot kicked into the root of a tree. Sonic tumbled forwards until he roughly settled onto his back. He grunted as the wind was almost knocked out of him. Sonic propped himself up to look around, hoping that no one saw him in his embarrassing moment.

"What an interesting turn of events," a coarse chuckle immediately follow the remark.

Sonic distinctly recognized that voice. It hadn't been missed in the time it had quieted. He could feel a presence lurking right behind him. For a split second Sonic considered running away and pretending that he hadn't heard a thing, but it was already too late for that option. Right behind him was Doctor Eggman, hovering in his round mobile.

Sonic jumped onto his feet in a defensive stance. He narrowed his eyes at Eggman, who kept a grin on his face. It had to be a facade, Eggman always falsely showed happiness.

"You!" Sonic said accusingly while pointing at Eggman.

The man had to roll his eyes. "Of course it's me, who else would I be?"

"What are you doing here?"

Eggman shifted in his chair. With the press of a button, the side opened up and drew a staircase. Eggman slowly descended onto the ground. His skinny legs wobbled slightly. It was at this moment Sonic really noticed how old Eggman was becoming. Since the last time he had seen his enemy, Eggman's mustache had became more untamed with a few gray hairs. Frown wrinkles between his eyebrows had deepened over the past months, it was hard to ever tell if Eggman had once smiled.

"I've come to help you," Eggman said with seriousness. He looked sincere enough for anyone to think of him as an innocent old man.

Sonic knew better, "I should just pound you into the ground right now."

"That isn't really your style," Eggman retorted. He was right. Sonic never attacked without being provoked first. Even then he avoided hurting someone head on. "Just listen to me," the senior begged quickly.

Sonic crossed his arms. It had to be another act. Eggman had tried a countless amount of times to destroy him before. Sonic had no reason to trust the human.

Eggman held up his hands to show that they were clean. "See," he waved them, "I have no tricks. All I want to do is talk."

Sonic scoffed at that. When did Eggman ever want to just talk? There must be some ulterior motive. It was always the same. Eggman failed at something so he would think of another plan, a part of that would include trying to convince everyone that he turned a new leaf. Of course Sonic never completely fell for his lies.

Both men stared at each other, waiting for one to break from the gaze first. Not once did Eggman falter and reveal a sinister look. With a stern look Sonic gave in, "You have five minutes."

"I'm a changed man," Eggman tried to convince Sonic right away. The blue hedgehog just rolled his eyes. Eggman may have been gone for awhile but it didn't mean he went soul searching the whole time.

"And I have eight fingers," Sonic sarcastically retorted.

Eggman ignored his remark and continued, "This whole time I thought I would feel better if I saw everyone below me," Eggman noticed the great height difference between him and the hedgehog, "figuratively, not literally. I realized that I had been wrong. All of this wanting to take over the world is pointless. Instead, I decided that making other people happy would also improve my own mental health."

Sonic scoffed at that. "Then what have you been doing for the past year?"

"I thought to start off as my new self I would help you to make up for all of those times that I've hurt you. If I can get you to your own eternal happiness then maybe you would finally forgive me."

Sonic hesitated for a moment. He wondered if he should just beat Eggman while he still had the chance instead of listening to the man an his nonsense. Ignoring his better judgement, "What do you mean 'eternal happiness'?"

Eggman leveled his gaze with Sonic's. He laced his fingers together over his stomach. His lips pressed together as he showed a sympathetic look. "I know," Eggman bowed his head.

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows, "You know?" The blue hedgehog was clueless as to what Eggman was talking about.

"I know," he repeated in the same manner.

The world around Sonic began to slow down as his brain clicked. Any leaves that detached from their branches seemed to take years as they drifted to the grass. The rustle of the trees echoed at the back of his head. No one else was around yet Sonic felt claustrophobic. He felt as if all the air in the world was vacuumed away.

Eggman kept a straight face as he watched the green eyes widen. The hedgehog's calm manner had just been destroyed.

"What are you talking about?" Sonic played an oblivious act that Eggman saw straight through.

Eggman gently placed a hand over his heart. "My deepest condolences," his spoke in a soothing manner.

Sonic ignored Eggman. He suddenly felt angry. Any good mood that he had been in before vanished. He clenched and unclenched his fists multiple times to gain control over his fingers.

How, out of everyone, could Eggman know? It was one of Sonic's worst nightmares that Eggman had the upperhand. It was very possible that this was also Sonic's weakness, even though he was not willing to admit it.

"But I know a way you can see her again," Eggman continued. "It took a long time but I planned out everything perfectly..."

Sonic glared at the man. Being in his mere presence disgusted him. "You're full of shit," Sonic snarled. He jumped forward at amazing speeds to tackle Eggman. Instead of hitting flesh, a cool metal slammed into Sonic's front. His face burned as he flew back into a tree. He choked on air as his eyes began to water from the soreness spreading through his back.

Bocoe stood guard in front of Eggman. The loyal robot lowered the metal hammer it produced from its fist. Bocoe wasn't usually violent, he mostly followed what Eggman would tell him to do, but when he saw his master in danger his instincts had to kick in.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," Eggman sighed, "it's just a defense system, I can't so anything about it."

Sonic used the tree to help him balance as he stood up. "Sure," he sarcastically said. It was just like Eggman to hit a nerve mentally then physically. Sonic began to rake his hands through is quills. "This can't be happening," he groaned.

"You act like it's a bad thing," Eggman chuckled.

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut. He imagined himself being at any other place. Where was he truly happy? Sonic wanted to scream when all he could picture was Sally. Her eyes were so clear that it was as if Sonic had just seen them yesterday. The blue hedgehog knew that it had been much longer than he had last looked at Sally. Every year he had spent away from her was so guilt ridden he wondered how much longer he could bare it.

Eggman tried to approach Sonic. As soon as he took a step forward Sonic shouted, "Stay away. Don't you dare come any closer!"

Eggman was startled. The older man had not expected for Sonic to explode. It was a new sight to see the cool and collected male be more unstable than Shadow ever was. "Like I said, Sonic," Eggman frowned, "I know how you can see your princess again."

"She died," Sonic choked. He pulled down roughly on his quills, as if he could pull away all of the thoughts that kept forcing their way into his head. "It's my fault, not that you would know that." Sonic slowly met his eyes with Eggman's, "Even if I wanted to, I could never see her again."

Eggman chuckled, "I never knew of you to be such a hopeless soul."

"I never knew of you to be a concerned soul."

"Touche." Eggman thoughtfully twiddled with the end of his moustache, "I assure you that I have put deep thought into this."

Sonic didn't look convinced, he was still recovering from his burst of rage. "How on Mobius could you ever do that?" Sonic humorlessly laughed.

"It is indeed very possible," Eggman reassured Sonic. "Have you ever heard that old story of the angel who saved this land."

Sonic silently nodded his head, not understanding what a local legend had to do with anything.

"Theoretically, she came from another world, more specifically, a world of the dead. People who had passed on. During the brief time that the angel was here the two worlds actually connected through the Master Emerald. In a way, the Emerald acts as a portal. If I can take the portal and hold it open, you will be able to go in and find Sally. Find her, then you two will be able to stay together, no thanks is needed."

"Do you think I believe in all of that... supernatural stuff?"

Eggman held his hopeful countenance, "I can prove it all with science." Eggman pulled out hand drawn blueprints from his inner coat pocket and tossed it to Sonic. The hedgehog unraveled them slowly. "That explains how the chaos energy powers the machine. Setting down the angel statue on the Master Emerald will then summon the angel, when she comes the portal will be opened and you can go through."

"How do you know that will happen?"

"Have you not noticed a natural occurrence lately?"

Sonic tilted his head slightly to the side, his ears twitched as he thought of the multiple strange occurrences that happen in Emerald Town. "Is it you causing the chaos emeralds to go whack?" Sonic interrogated.

Eggman shook his head with a grin, "I am not that powerful. Instead, it is happening because the land isn't being taken care of."

Sonic groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Why is this so complicated?" He then looked up at Eggman accusingly, "Why am I even talking to you?"

"Maybe deep down you're hoping that what I say is true."

"Is it?"

"Indeed," Eggman cupped his chin with his hand.

Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose, "If I were to be with Sally, couldn't I have just killed myself a long time ago?"

Eggman began to pace back between Decoe and Bocoe, who both stood at his sides. "It would be most people's first reactions," Eggman figured. "In fact, I would have assumed just by reading into your love life that you would commit suicide after being traumatized..."

"But?"

"But there is one thing keeping you from doing that."

Sonic folded his arms over his chest. "And what is that?" he challenged.

Eggman froze in place. "You're afraid of death." Sonic remained silent. "It's a common fear among Mobians, so you're not a special case. At a young age you've already had two people close to you die, the king and your fiancee. Subconsciously, you've developed a dislike of suffering and all you can do is suffer when you experience death."

"How do you know that about me?"

"Research." Eggman made a second attempt to walk towards Sonic, this time the blue hedgehog did not yell at him. "It's interesting how you've kept your original life a secret from all of your supposed friends."

"It's all I want to do," Sonic found himself admitting. "My kingdom is pretty small, and it likes to keep to itself. It's rare to find anything about it on the internet. I know for a fact that you wouldn't find any news papers with it out here."

"How long did you think you'd be able to run away from your problems?" Eggman pressed.

Sonic took a step back, "I don't know!"

"Did you think you could just eat away your mental health and have no one question it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Eggman snapped his fingers, "Like I said, I have my solution." Eggman's smile widened when he saw Sonic less hesitant. "You do owe it to Princess Sally to be there for her," Eggman pressed.

Sonic's mind swarm with thoughts of Sally. For over half of his life they were always together. He loved Sally as she loved him. The one time he had let her alone she faced pain. Sonic began to realize something. Of course Sally was in pain, he left her alone. Sonic thought he felt guilty for lying, leaving his family, and letting Sally die, but it was much more than that. He knew he was culpable because the the only girl he ever promised a forever to was now alone. Sonic's heart clenched at the idea that Sally would wait years just for him.

Sonic then thought of this life. It was almost the perfect life for him. The only problem was that it wasn't the first life Sonic had. His friends, people who he would even consider a second family, had no clue save for Shadow. How would Sonic ever be able to tell them that he was leaving to find the girl who he owed it to be there for her? He wondered if they would even understand.

Even if he didn't necessarily want to, maybe it was time for him to leave. Sonic was never good at saying bye.

"Explain to me your idea once more."

Eggman's eyes gleamed behind his glasses. "It won't take much effort from you," he chimed. "All of the work had been done from a series of events. First, the farmland had barely been tended to this past year. That directly violates the promise made in the legend of the angel when she wished for the land to be taken care of. Not too long afterwards, the emeralds begin to act out of bounds, which must be the result of this. Tomorrow, on the 100th year of celebrating Garden's Apparition the emeralds will be most sensitive. All we need to do is quickly hook the portal up to the Master Emerald and reenact the summoning to get the angel back. When she's here all you need to do is jump into the other world and find your loved one and stay with her forever."

Sonic found it crazy that he was sincerely considering following what Eggman says. If he told anyone they would call him crazy. No one understood how he felt. There was just one issue, "I understand that it's basically a painless death, but why can't I just bring Sally back here? Wouldn't it make life easier on everyone?"

Eggman shook his head with a disappointed look, "I'm afraid not. Since Sally is dead, her physical body is most likely buried away somewhere. It may not be the best image but on mobius she's just a decomposing corpse. But in the other world you'll be able to actually see and feel her as souls."

Sonic continued to stare at Eggman. There was something different about the man now. Eggman looked tired, as if another day was just too much for him. Sonic began to doubt if Eggman could even handle a battle but just in case, "How do I know you won't twist this into something for a personal gain. Last time I saw you, you were still trying to take over the whole planet."

"We're dealing with beings beyond our mostly mortal power, is there really anything you think I can do against them?"

"Tomorrow?" Sonic doubled checked. He ignored the dread that pinched at every thought of doing something right for once. Sonic figured that his had to be the solution. Everything that Eggman told him explained why the emerald were more chaotic than usual.

"Before nine O'clock at dawn," Eggman affirmed.

Sonic then took off. He really needed to be alone more than ever. It was strange to think just twenty minutes ago Sonic was running with bliss, now he was once more running from a pain he didn't want to face. Sonic had to think of the positive. There was a chance that he would be able to see Sally again, he felt desperate.

Sonic wondered if Sally would even want to see him, or maybe she was some how looking at him at the very moment. Sonic thought it was very possible that Sally could hate him. He wouldn't even know what to say if he found out the entire time he grieved Sally had loathed him. He had to set his eyes on what's right in front of him: Sonic will finally reunite with Sally. The guilt will let him be at peace.

The hedgehog never saw Eggman's innocent smile morph into a smirk.

* * *

><p>Sonic stayed out for the rest of the day. Eventually, his sprints turned into mindless walking. Multiple times Tails had called him through his wrist communicator to check up on Sonic. The hedgehog ignored half of them. The times he did answer he failed to indulge in the two minute conversations. The fox realized that the moment wasn't well for Sonic.<p>

Long after the sky was lit up by stars, Sonic found himself wandering up to Tails's house. All the windows were dark, Sonic knew that meant Tails was in a deep sleep already.

Sonic fell back onto the very familiar couch. He wasn't tired, so sleep wouldn't visit him this night. Sonic just waited eagerly until he would have to leave.

It drove him crazy that he spent the whole day alone with his thoughts. It was a repeating cycle.

First, Sonic thought of his dad. It was rare that Sonic spent long periods of time wondering about the king. He was never close to his father. Everything with the king was strict. The children had to be a perfect image in his presence. Sonic couldn't think of a single time he had genuinely smiled at his dad. Instead, he lingered on the idea of how his dad was as a child. Sonic was almost certain the his grandfather was strict as well. Maybe his dad actually went easy on him.

Sonic was curious as to who his siblings now were. Both have probably changed by now. Sonia was a young lady and Maniac must have learned manners. He hoped that the lifestyle they lived with never turned them prissy. It would be wrong to be a foreigner with his own siblings.

He knew that his mother would become frantic. At least he was able to see her these past few months, even though her presence wasn't exactly welcomed. Sonic knew that Aleena had good intentions even though she was fickle when it came to making up her mind. He was annoyed to no end with her flawed reasoning. One day maybe she would be able to accept things as is.

Sonic felt very uncomfortable on what he thought about the most. Sonic couldn't help the disappointment at the idea that he wouldn't talk to his Amy again. In a way, he would be content if she was sad that he left. He felt selfish, but it was true. The attention Amy gave him felt special in a way he didn't understand. If Amy treated other people the way she treated Sonic, he was certain he'd go crazy. Sonic knew that there had to be a day for Amy to find another person to grow close with. It wasn't fair for her to constantly face disappointment with him. Sonic felt obligated to leave Amy feeling delighted instead of sad.

It occurred at that moment that Sonic should say a proper goodbye. He felt just how he did years ago. Sonic once again was going to leave everyone behind. This time, he had to do something right. Sonic figured that repeating history didn't do justice to the people that supported him when he felt lonely.

Nobody knew it was the last day of this life Sonic had created. He figured it was time to say goodbye in a way where he wouldn't face a confrontation. Sonic sat down at the worn desk Tails had been at many times before. He pulled out a pencil and multiple sheets of notebook paper.

When the end comes, it's always quick like the prick of a thorn from a rose.

* * *

><p><strong>Sonic, you fool.<strong>


	29. Time of the End

**Hopefully I can get this done by the end of May. I'm excited ****to finish this. **

**Chapter: Time of the End**

* * *

><p>In the early morning even all the chao remained sleeping in peacefully. With the sun still tucked under the horizon, no light could beam into their eyes. The steady heat was also soothing to every animal, even those tucked away in their beds.<p>

The peace in some were disturbed by a solid thud. Amy jumped at the noise of her window falling shut. She blinked her eyes at the unsuspicious scene before yawning. It was still dark in her room. She briefly read the clock on her nightstand to tell that she wouldn't wake up for another hour.

Amy rolled over and buried her body in the bed sheets. Before she could close her eyes once more, she noticed a neatly folded paper that had not been there the night before. Her name was scribbled across the front as if someone had been in a rush.

Curiosity was more powerful than her need to sleep. Amy clicked on the lamp and unfolded the note. With the first line she realized it was a letter. The handwriting was so small and narrow Amy was just barely able to read it.

The letter left her greatly confused until she read who it was from. "Sonic?" Amy wondered aloud. She began reading the letter once more while imagining Sonic speaking to her.

In a small panic, Amy began to hurriedly prepare to leave her house while continuing to read. She dropped the paper several times while pulling up her dress. The girl clumsily fell against the wall multiple while trying to simultaneously walk down the hallway, pull up her boots, and finish the last few sentences once more. As soon as Amy unlocked her front door, she broke off into a sprint.

Amy hoped that she would find Sonic at Tails's house. Whenever he wasn't at her's, he was there. If Sonic wouldn't be found there, she worried if she would ever be able to find him. Theoretically, Sonic could go anywhere he wanted to in the matter of minutes.

"Sonic!" Amy called out as she frantically knocked on the front door. She knocked until her knuckles went numb. It was only several minutes later until Tails answered the door. Amy could tell that he had just woken up.

Tails subconsciously patted down his tousled fur. "Amy," he blinked a couple times at her, "what are you doing here?"

Amy barged right past Tails. She was still breathing heavily as she quickly looked for any sign of the blue hedgehog. "Where's Sonic?" she almost yelled as she ran to look in the kitchen.

Tails was oblivious to Amy's distraught actions. "Calm down," Tails gently grabbed Amy by the shoulder, "he's probably around here somewhere."

Amy panted a couple times as she realized that Tails didn't know a thing for once. "Didn't you get a letter?" Amy showed him the one she had found on the nightstand. Tails carefully read it as Amy rushed upstairs. Just as she thought, there was one for Tails as well. She quickly plucked it off his dresser and brought it to him. Amy didn't read it, thinking it would be better for Tails if he got it first.

Tails traded her for his own letter. He silently read, his lips twitching slightly as if he was trying to form the words themselves. Any sign of sleep slowly faded away. Tails now looked just as panicked as Amy was.

"Is this real?" Amy wondered, hoping that it was a sick joke. Sonic wouldn't do this to them as a joke, it wasn't like them.

"I'm going to call Cream," Tails suddenly said as he pulled out a communicator. "Check with someone else."

Amy rushed to the landline. She punched in the first number that came to her mind. She tapped her foot impatiently as the phone rung. When no one answered she immediately tried once more. After a minute, an annoying minute, finally someone answered with a gruff, "Hello?"

"Shadow!" Amy cried into the phone.

There was a pause before he responded, "Amy... What's wrong?"

"It's Sonic," she sighed sadly, "he's gone. I don't know where. Did you get a letter from him?"

"I haven't been home all night," Shadow explained.

"Go check!" Amy urged. She surprised herself at how demanding she was with Shadow. Amy briefly moved the phone away from her ear as it became clustered with static before going silent.

A few moments later she heard Shadow murmur, "Interesting..."

"What is it? Did you find something? Was it a letter? What does it say? Do you know where he is?"

Shadow remained quiet for a few moments. Amy's eyes began to stung as she waited, wide-eyed, for Shadow to respond. "Is this Tails's phone?"

Amy dumbly nodded her head. She quietly said, "Yes," after remembering that Shadow couldn't see her.

"I'm coming over." The phone line buzzed after he hung up. Amy put the handset back on the hook.

"Shadow is coming!" Amy announced. She figured he would be over in the next minute with his speed.

"So is Cream," Tails sighed. He looked down at his letter, "She too had a letter." Amy then figured that everyone close to Sonic probably got a letter. Tails figured the same thing as he then began to contact Knuckles. "Try calling Team Chaotix or Rouge."

Amy first dialed Rouge. The phone rung a few times before Rouge's crabby voice answered, "Who calls at 7:30 in the morning?!"

"Rouge," Amy rolled her eyes, she didn't have time for her attitude, "it's Amy. Something really important happened."

"What is it?" the bat became serious. Amy was thankful that she wouldn't have to waste precious time trying to wake Rouge up.

"First, is there a note or anything around you?" Amy pressed. She could hear Rouge rummage around the area before humming a positive response. "Okay get up and come over right now and read that while you're on your way! Please and thank you!"

"Wait! What's hap-"

Amy felt bad for hanging up on Rouge, but she needed to get everyone together as soon as possible. Next, she called the work number for Team Chaotix, they always answered that more often than their personal phone. Right away a member answered the phone.

"Look ma'am, I'm sorry if you're experiencing power outages," Charmy instantly spoke in an annoyed tone, "but there is nothing we can do."

"Charmy."

"Don't worry, we are currently dealing with a problem many people are facing along with you. Even Team Chaotix over here is having issues that is beyond our control."

"Charmy!"

"Rest assured, the problem should soon come to an end as we work with several of our assistances to-"

"CHARMY!" Amy yelled into the phone. The bee suddenly stopped talking once he realized that it wasn't a customer. "We need your guy's help."

"Oh! Sorry. What's the matter?"

Amy realized that another person was oblivious to what was happening. She wasn't surprised since it was still early in the morning. "Sonic decided to disappear somewhere. He left everyone some sort of letter and you probably have one set out in your house somewhere." Amy heard Charmy yell at Vector to go find a letter. The two began to bicker on the other side of the phone line.

Another voice picked up the phone, "Amy?" It was Espio. Amy was thankful that the most mature one of the trio was there to answer her. "What's going on?"

In the distance, she could hear the voice of Charmy yell out, "Sonic called us awesome!"

"Did you read the letter?" Amy eagerly asked.

"They're currently reading it right now."

"Please come to Tails's as soon as possible!" Amy pleaded. "We need everyone here."

"Will do," Espio quickly said. "See you in ten."

Both hung up at the same time.

Amy did a mini checklist in her mind, hoping that she had gotten everyone. Amy doubted that it would be okay to call Cryssi. She didn't even know the dog's number and doubted she would answer anyways. She then wondered if Aleena knew anything. Something was always strange between the woman and Sonic. No one knew what it was and never questioned it too much. Amy hoped that Cream would bring Aleena along with her.

Amy glanced down at her letter. Maybe Sonic wanted to be found. "_No_," Amy thought. She knew better than that. When Sonic wants to be alone, he detaches himself from everyone. This was different. Sonic wasn't giving anyone clues to where he was going, he was saying a final goodbye.

It was so sudden. Amy only saw him two days ago. She couldn't even think of the last thing that she had said to him. Both of them had been hanging out like they usually do. Sonic hadn't shown any sign of being out of place. He was as normal as ever, or normal for him at least. It had been such an ordinary day that she wished something significant had happened.

There was a knock on the front door. Amy walked by Tails who was still talking to Knuckles. She already knew that Shadow would be the first to arrive. Just as she opened the front door Cream had walked in through the back. Along with the small rabbit was Vanilla, Aleena, and of course Cheese. Everyone crowded into the living room.

"Oh, Amy!" Cream cried out as she threw herself into Amy's arms. "Is Sonic going to be okay?" Amy didn't answer.

Tails finally hung up his communicator. He first glanced at Shadow and then to Amy and Cream. "The Master Emerald is gone," he pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not a good way to start the day. "I convinced Knuckles to come over even though he's in a bad mood."

"It's supposed to be a holiday," Vanilla sighed.

Amy pulled away from Cream, who then latched onto Tails. "Do you think this has anything to do with Sonic?" Amy wondered.

"But why would Sonic steal an emerald?" Tails questioned. It was very coincidental that on the same day Sonic goes away the Master Emerald is also missing.

Shadow folded his arms over his chest. Sonic didn't tell him exactly why he had left either but he had a strong feeling he knew the reason. Shadow was slightly annoyed that no one knew the true identity of Sonic other than Aleena. He glanced over at her, who had remained quiet the whole time. As far as Shadow knew, Aleena had no idea that he was aware of her true identity. Shadow really wanted Sonic to confess himself. Shadow felt that it wasn't his tale to tell, but maybe the situation required it. For the moment, Shadow won't open his mouth.

"Someone else would though," Amy suggested. All three hedgehogs instantly thought Eggman.

Tails went to his shelf. He rummaged around before pulling out the chaos energy tracker. "With this we should be able to find it."

"And maybe Sonic," Amy suggested. She looked over Tails's shoulder to see the tracker. Seven small dots lit up a bold red color. One was in Tails's house, Amy assumed that it was because Shadow always kept one in his possession. She noticed how the measurements were higher than ever.

"There's the Master Emerald," Tails pointed to a larger red dot. The Master Emerald's power almost tripled compared to the seven emeralds. "Let's go," he quickly urged.

Just as everyone began to file out of the house, the power went out. If it wasn't for the glow of the sun, the entire area would have been pitch black. "Perfect timing," Shadow sarcastically said. He tried to kick on his shoes. Nothing happened as Shadow stood there, dumbfounded for a moment. "Interesting," Shadow commented to himself.

"What's wrong?" Amy stepped through the doorway. She had noticed the way Shadow suddenly stopped in place.

He pointed down at his shoes, "Since I can control chaos power to a certain extent, I use it to power my boots. My boots won't turn on which means chaos is starting to get out of my hands."

Amy gulped, "That's bad, isn't it?"

"Well it certainly is not pleasant."

"Hey guys!" Rouge called out as she landed. Close behind her was knuckles and the remaining team. Everyone was now together. Each person had a letter with them from the only Sonic. Shadow kept his note to himself, not wanting any to get the chance of revealing Sonic's secret too early.

"Are you sure this isn't just a prank?" Vector doubtfully questioned. "I mean, Sonic is old enough to take care of himself."

"What would Sonic gain from freaking us out?" Amy snapped. The crocodile coward away from the little hedgehog. Amy smirked in satisfaction. She needed to find Sonic quick.

Tails stepped forward, "Does anyone's letter say anything about where he could have gone?" Everyone shook their heads. Amy kept scanning over the same lines again and again.

Something made her feel like crying. She couldn't cry now. She had to be an adult and act like an adult. Why did she feel like something very bad was going to happen? All she wanted at the time was to know that Sonic was safe. She wished that he would run by and make some idiotic remark on how special he was.

Amy then remembered what the woman in her dreams had told her many times before. Someone needed Amy's help. "_It must be Sonic_," Amy figured. "_What are we doing here_?!_ I need to find Sonic_!" Amy began to bounce slightly where she stood. She had to find Sonic at this very moment. She had to get rid of the dreadful feeling that began to hurt her chest.

"First we should get to the Master Emerald, then split from there," Tails ordered. Everyone nodded their heads and broke out into a run. Those who were able to got into the air. Everyone followed Tails as he led the way.

Amy looked around and wondered to herself why is was such a nice day. Not a single cloud floated above their heads. It didn't seem right for the sunshine to heat the day up while Amy didn't at all feel warm inside. She wished that it would storm just to match her emotion.

Tails suddenly stopped at the top of the hill. Cream gasped at his side as she looked over it. It took a second for everyone else to catch up and witness what the fox had seen.

A sea of silver flooded the field below. There was only a small space between the mass and treeline. "Eggbots," Tails breathed.

"That means Eggman is near by," Knuckles growled. He clenched his fists at the thoughts of the man taking his prized possession through the night. He was infuriated at the thought of Eggman lifting up the emerald while he peacefully slept.

"Someone is with them," Amy pointed down at the smaller body that stood at the front. She could tell that the figure was staring straight up at them.

"It's almost as if they were waiting for us," Rouge frowned as she pulled out her phone.

"Eggman really doesn't want us to stop him," Shadow shook his head. He and Rouge shared a look while the bat began to talk into the phone. No one bothered to question why she chose now to call people up. She turned away for a moment as she began to have a conversation.

"Come on," Amy was first to begin walking down the hill. Some were more hesitant to follow her along the way.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Charmy exclaimed. He wasn't eager to have to face the army of robots. "How are we ever going to be able to stand up to them?"

Amy stopped for a moment to take in the view once more. She squinted her eyes at the figure that stood aloof to the robots. Something seemed awfully familiar about the body shape. "Is that..?"

"Cryssi!" Tails yelled. Everyone slowed down after they realized that she was indeed the figure who stood. ahead of the crowd. The dog menacingly smirked at them. She confidently held her hands on her hips. The slight breeze blew her ears. Cryssi was clad in black and red, the traditional colors of Eggman. She didn't seem to mind wearing his logo on the right side of her jacket.

"What the hell?" Knuckles exclaimed.

Cryssi smirked at the group. She was obviously pleased at their surprised expressions. "It's about time you guys showed up," she crossed her arms, "I almost began to think that you would all make me wait the whole day. Unlike Sonic, you guys are slow."

"Sonic," Amy breathed his name. The feeling in her gut became worse and worse. Amy's side began to ache. She wasn't sure if it was the situation or the fact that she already ran over a mile and it wasn't even noon that cause her soreness. "What did you do to him?" Amy already began to accuse Cryssi.

"Me?" Cryssi gasped. She brought her hand to her heart, feigning being offended. "I didn't do a thing," Cryssi paused for a moment, "that doesn't mean Eggman won't be doing anything." Her smirk slowly returned to her face. The dog almost chuckled at the distress brought upon everyone.

"What's Eggman doing to Sonic?"

"Now if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise."

Tails blinked in disbelief. He remembered of the days when Cryssi was so innocently happy. She used to be a simple person, what could have ever happened to that? "Why are you doing this?"

The sick humor left her face. Her smile faded as if it was an unnatural feature to her. Cryssi stood there expressionless. No one could read her unpredictable actions."Do you really want to know why?" Cryssi wondered out loud. Their silent response failed to bother her, Cryssi didn't care for an answer anyways. "Fine," she folded her arms, "it won't change _anything_ if I tell you."

Amy and Tails exchanged a look. Amy really didn't want to waste time listening but if it would help her understand what's going on, then she would force herself to stand still.

"I guess, for me at least, it all started a little over a year ago. For at least the beginning of last summer, I was such a small town girl. I was so ignorant to the world it disgusts me. I had some crazy idea in my mind that I would continue to live on the farm, doing everything my father told me, as a happy person. Everyone would help me and eventually I'd be married with a family." Cryssi humorlessly chuckled to herself suddenly, "I'm embarrassed to admit I even thought that Sonic would love me back."

Amy remembered being told how Cryssi had lashed out at Sonic. She felt uncomfortable around the dog knowing of the awful things she had said. Amy then remembered how Sonic had stood up for her. Amy had to find Sonic.

Almost as if Cryssi knew what Amy was thinking, "No, dear, that doesn't happen exactly yet. First, Eggman comes into play. In the middle of the night his goon robot just broke into my house. I had woken up to a loud crash in the living room. By the time I had gotten downstairs glass was already everywhere. Right as I looked out of the broken window, it was taking off with my father. I had no time to call for help, instead I did what my instinct told me; I immediately jumped out of the window and hung onto the hovercraft. I barely caught onto the bottom and rode it out to Eggman's base.

"Surprisingly, Eggman didn't seem upset to see me when I dropped down. Right away, he began to threaten us. At the time, it was the strangest thing ever. He straight up told us to stop using the farm. I wasn't even taking him seriously since you guys never seemed to. I guess I had really pissed him off at the time though because out of nowhere he commanded Decoe to hold a knife to my dad. I panicked, he was going to kill my father right then and there. Like the weak person I was, I begged him not to. I even told him I would do anything just as long as he didn't kill my dad."

Amy never knew much about Eggman. When she had first seen him, he had appeared vicious, but Sonic shrugged him off as if he was nothing. Would a man really kill a guy just to make him stop farming? A purpose for killing a farm couldn't be helpful. "_What could Eggman gain from that_?" Amy wondered.

"For some time," Cryssi continued, not caring to even look at her old friends, "he had me just pretend nothing happened while he held my father captive. He told me to not let anyone on the farm or realize that all production had stopped. I began to then excessively stay at home and always say that I needed to help my dad out, just to emphasize that I was working. That was foolish on my part. Putting such a distance between us I realize was a mistake on my part. While I was gone, I noticed how Amy and Sonic began to grow close to one another." Cryssi sneered Amy's name. She stared directly at the pink hedgehog.

Amy almost squirmed in her boots. She didn't know that such a menacing look was even possible. Amy could no longer picture the warm, welcoming smile Cryssi used to show. It was at that moment that she realized that this person standing in front of them was not the same girl that everyone else had known for years.

"Frankly, I hated you for that," Cryssi snorted, "the perfect city girl who moved to a small town. With no effort you moved your way into our little group. Everyone here just _loves_ you. Even the freak would do anything for you," Cryssi gestured to Shadow. Amy could tell by the way his eyes shook that he was holding himself back.

"Even before you guys were really close he chose you over me," Cryssi growled. "I was so stressed with having to keep the fact that Eggman could kill my dad in the blink of an eye I thought maybe if I started something with Sonic I'd feel better. I went ahead and happily confessed my feelings with Sonic, thinking that he's return them, but of course he didn't. He told me true love doesn't exist. At that time something inside of me snapped."

Amy knew exactly what Cryssi was talking about. The dog had called her a "whore." Amy had to pity the Cryssi. She did feel uneasy with the father situation. It was disappointing how someone could change so badly over a crush. No, Sonic was not just a crush. Girls never went crazy over simple infatuation. Amy wondered if her feelings for him was just like that. She couldn't imagine herself going crazy if Sonic were to turn her down. All she could do is anticipate that there was some way she could selfishly keep him to herself.

"_No_," Amy contradicted herself, "_I don't want to be selfish. I just want Sonic to be okay. Could he ever be okay if I locked him down? Thats not love._" Amy inwardly cringed. She used the one word that she was trying to avoid with Sonic. Amy didn't want this with Sonic. Rouge even told her that Sonic never had interest in any girl, Amy didn't see how she could be any exception. The hedgehog could feel the weight of the letter's presence. Sonic had written it directly towards her. Amy figured that there must be hope for Sonic in any way loving her.

"Not only did Sonic turn against me, but so did Tails and Rouge. I knew it wouldn't belong until you and Cream heard about anything. Since you already practically stole my best friend, I figured that there was nothing else to lose. Since you took everything I had left from me, I decided to take something important from you, only I no longer wanted it so that was when I began working for Eggman."

Cream gasped along with Cheese. It was almost impossible to imagine that the small rabbit had ever been best friends with Cryssi. Now, the two were so unlike one another.

"I told Eggman that I didn't care about keeping my father safe. Instead, I offered to work for him. On the same day, he killed my dad and left town. He told me to then clear the base of any evidence of his plans. Then I was to report everything that you guys were doing. Eggman even had me learn how to write in human languages so I could do work right in front of you guys."

Amy thought back to the one time that she had caught Cryssi writing in the diner. She had taken a picture of the papers Cryssi was writing on but was never able to read it. "So all this time," Amy's eyes slowly widened, "you've been stalker us?"

"Observing," Cryssi grumbled, "but yes. I have seen everything. Everything from your little prissy self getting a new house to being drunk at Rouge's party."

Amy scowled at the dog. It was unbelieveable how unaware she was of her privacy being invaded. She was rather enraged by a storm within her. The single idea of Cryssi violating any private moment. The dog lurking over her shoulder as she gushed over Sonic made Amy more than ever want to punch someone.

The extent of Cryssi's knowledge on their personal lives wasn't lacking. Collecting data almost came as a sixth sense to her. She knew everything. Working with doctor Eggman gave Cryssi the technological advance, tools that Tails would never bother with.

"I even know something about Sonic that most of you probably are unaware of," Cryssi looked directly at Amy, "even you, princess."

"Cryssi," her name was snapped harshly. Everyone looked at Shadow. There was a new rage in his eyes that had not been present there before.

"The big bad wolf speaks," Cryssi taunted. Anyone sane would have backed away from Shadow. "I don't fear you," Cryssi laughed, "at this very moment you're losing control over chaos by the second. What are you going to do now? Pelt me with emeralds? Eggman told me to wait, but it's so hard keeping it to myself."

"She knows," Amy blurted. Shadow sighed, as he stared at his feet.

"Knows what?" Tails asked.

Shadow had wanted to avoid this situation completely. If it weren't for the current predicament, he would have cursed the blue hedgehog for bringing him into his problems. It couldn't be avoided. Shadow now had to face Sonic's entire group, including Amy. It had to be done before Cryssi could say too much.

"There's something that Shadow has been meaning to tell me," Amy spoke flatly, "he wouldn't until he thought it was the right time or whatever. It's been months since we made a deal and he still hadn't said a thing." Amy turned to Shadow, as if he was the only person there, "Is this secret about Sonic the same secret?"

Cryssi laughed, "Well, it's time to get the cat out of the bag. The perfect hero had made all you guys his fools."

Shadow began to muster up all the power he could. He could feel the energy speed up through his veins and focus on his head. The mild migraine didn't bother him a bit. Over the years of harnessing the harshness of the power of chaos became more of an annoyance than actual pain.

"Sonic the hedgehog is just using you to hide who he really is. You better believe it because Sonic the Hedgehog is-"

Just like magic, Amy saw the entire field, including Cryssi, disappear. The entire world around her flashed and blurred her vision. Amy wondered for a second wondered if she had somehow closed her eyes and stared at the sun. She blinked a few times to freshen her sight.

The atmosphere had changed drastically. She was surrounded by the absence of light. Looking down at herself, she noticed her body was glowing. Amy couldn't physically feel the ground but something was holding her feet down. She spun around and found all of her friends standing in groups. Each individual looked as confused as Amy felt. The only person who looked in place was Shadow.

"It's time you guys knew something," Shadow said, snapping mostly everyone's attention into place.

"Where are we?" Charmy kept spinning around, trying to find anything other than the darkness. He failed to do so. The only thing he could see were his friends.

"It's a chaotic state of being. I'm using the last of my power for now to keep us here. As soon as we leave, we'll be 'awakened' on Mobius at the very time and place that we had left. We don't have long."

Amy balled up her fists. She wasn't sure where she got the energy to, but she managed to march right up the Shadow. The darker hedgehog remained calmed as he was faced directly towards her.

"I don't care," Amy growled. "I am sick and tired of all of these problems. Can we ignore everything for one minute and focus on the big thing. Where is Sonic?! No, more than that, I want to know everything about him. I want his location! I want to know the meaning of his letter! I want to know if he's alright! And I want to know this big secret about him that everyone seems to know but me!" Amy's screaming left her out of breath. Cream, Tails, Rouge and Knuckles gaped at her. All were shocked to see such a demanding attitude be revealed from Amy. Not once had someone been so rude to Shadow.

Shadow placed his hands on both of her shoulders. He lightly shook Amy to coax her out of her deranged thinking. "Calm down," Shadow spoke warningly, not threateningly. "Listen, you'll get all of that, but there's something you need to know. Actually," Shadow backed up and looked at the small crowd, "you all need to know this. It might not make much sense to you but it's the truth."

"Just tell me!"

Shadow sighed. It almost felt like a betrayal to speak. "No one interrupt me," everyone nodded silently. Shadow closed his eyes, trying to keep the power of chaos while remaining calm. "There is always a time of how someone lived before we meet them. Sometimes they change, most of the time they don't. In Sonic's case, he changed drastically. He never talked about his whole other life because he tried to forget it, of course its almost impossible to not remember the fact that you're royalty."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn't believe what Shadow was telling her. "You don't mean," Amy's voice trailed off. She couldn't even bring herself to say the idea.

"Sonic was born a prince. His mother is a queen," Shadow looked directly at Aleena. Everyone else followed his gaze.

"No way," Rouge uttered in disbelief.

Aleena remained silent. She stared at the ground, not being able to meet anyone's eyes. She had helped Sonic lie to everyone. Aleena felt out of place. For the first time in awhile, she wished that someone would take her home where she could sit in the large castle.

"Then that would make you Queen Aleena," Amy's voice was light as she put together the pieces.

Tails shook his head rapidly, "Sonic wouldn't lie to me."

"Technically he didn't," Rouge shrugged her shoulders, "not once had Sonic ever came out and said 'I am not a prince.'"

"But what about all of the stories about his childhood?"

"What stories?" Knuckles snorted. "The two he's ever told us? Or was it one? Frankly I can't even remember any. Maybe those _were _true and he just kindly decided to leave out a few details."

"No wonder he was always so rich," Rouge muttered in dismay.

Shadow cleared his throat. He was irritated that no one realized he wasn't done. "There's more," he spoke loudly, "he had an older brother and sister, so naturally he wasn't first in line for the throne. Since his family ruled a rather small kingdom and there weren't many enemies after the death of the old king, his father, the chances of Sonic even becoming king himself were slim. Despite that, he was still bethroned to a princess of a neighboring kingdom. The royal family often did business with the Acorn Kingdom so they decided it would be beneficial to wed Prince Sonic and Princess Sally."

Amy felt her eyes begin to blur. Somehow, she knew what Shadow was saying. She felt like crying. Amy knew she was going to, but she didn't particularly care who saw her do so. Amy thought of the girl who told her to find Sonic. Every time she saw the squirrel she knew that the spirit looked like a princess. It was too much of a coincidence. Amy began to cry. She had to help Sonic. It was destined by the meddling of his fiance.

"They've known each other since they were just newborns. It's pure luck that they also found love in one another. So before anyone knew Sonic, he already experienced richness, a death, and love. We can also include all of the education and proper training he was probably given. I'm not sure if anything was used particularly for his speed, even if he wasn't a prince he'd still be special in some way.

"So the princess often came to the kingdom. It was normal for bethroned teenagers to spend time together. On one particular day, Prince Sonic wasn't at the castle, no one in the royal family was. The princess was all alone. It's normal for anyone to wonder what it's like to live a different life of their own. With this curiosity she had went into the village. It's really an accident but-"

"She died," Amy cut shadow off. Both he and Aleena looked at her in surprise. Aleena held a new interest in the girl. She hadn't gotten to know Amy as much as she wanted to, but she wondered what exactly the hedgehog was to Sonic. There was no way Amy could know this in advance.

"She did," Shadow confirmed her answer. "Do you know what else happens?"

"He said nothing happened to the prince," Amy blurted. Then, she remembered. The entire story that Sonic had told her was embedded in her mind. She even remembered how upset he had gotten when she criticized it. Amy covered her mouth when the tears in her eyes came faster. Her cheeks were soaked as she almost choked. Cream rushed over and embraced Amy.

Amy instantly connected the story to Sonic. The youngest prince was Sonic. The "chipmunk" princess was actually princess Sally. Sonic and Sally were in love. Sally died. Amy knew that it didn't matter how, a death was a death. Whether if it was an accident or a homicide, Sally was dead and _nothing_ could change that. Sonic wasn't lying when he said "nothing" happened to the prince because after that moment Prince Sonic had just ended.

"Sonic left. He didn't want to be a prince without her or move on. I honestly thought he had gotten better after he started this new life, but I was foolish. Sonic, if anything, had gotten worse," Shadow continued. "It's nobody's fault. You couldn't change it even if you were like a little sister," Shadow looked at Cream, "the best friend anyone could ever have," Shadow looked directly at Tails who remained solemnly quiet, "or a caring mother," finally, Shadow looked at Aleena who had silent tears running down her face.

Amy hugged Cream back. "I knew," Amy cried out, "he practically told me himself yet I did nothing! I was supposed to do something! I had one important job and I failed! I failed her and I'm a horrible person! Sonic needed me and I did nothing other than fantasize over a stupid crush!"

"Amy," Cream tried to calm the pink hedgehog down. Amy wasn't making any sense to the rabbit. "What do you mean?"

"Sonic told me a story," Amy couldn't stop the quick breaths that kept pausing her speech pattern. "He told me a story a long time ago of a prince and princess. The prince was the youngest son in the family who was going to marry the princess. They were hopelessly in love so it was supposed to be a love story. Then it became a tragedy after the princess died." Amy's eyes widened when she suddenly recalled a specific quote from Sonic himself, "Oh no," she whispered with a panicked breath.

"Amy what's wrong! You're worrying me."

"Sonic even told me," Amy stopped, "that he, or the prince I guess, believed that he was dead on the inside and that he wished he died with her."

A clap of flesh on flesh surprised Amy. It was for a few seconds until she realized that Cream, of all people, had slapped her. Her cheek stung but didn't faze the girl. "Amy Rose," the small rabbit gave her a stern look while puffing out her cheeks, "I don't care about who Sonic was. His title is nothing here. Sonic is still Sonic. Don't think of him as the prince for a moment. Think back to our weird Sonic that loves to help people. Sonic who was so carefree. He is so careless he didn't even realize it. He hid his problems from everyone and tried to suppress him and instead saved townspeople all the time. Maybe he was a little suspicious, but none of us moved to help Sonic when he was the one that needed it the most. Now is our chance. We can't be hurt that he kept this from us. We just need to try to understand and return a favor. So get yourself together because Sonic needs you."

"He needs you guys too," Amy looked over everyone before settling her eyes on Aleena. It was hard imagine that the innocent woman had been lying the entire time. Amy knew now was not the moment to try to accuse anyone of betrayal. The only person guilty of that was Cryssi.

"Amy," Tails stepped forward. Amy could tell he had a better composure of himself. "I've known Sonic longer than any of these people, of course not including his mom. He's my best friend and I hope that I'm his. You wouldn't have ever noticed since you didn't really know him previously to all of these problems but Sonic has changed a lot. He was always sarcastic but he was never around everyone as a whole. He kept to himself more, mostly talking to just Cryssi and I. Sonic was constantly joking around too, not that he wasn't funny, but now it's more possible to have sincere conversations with him. It became so much easier to see how he really cares for people and I can guarantee you that he cares a lot for you."

Amy blushed as everyone stared at her. She felt embarrassed that it was out in the open that she felt something for Sonic and now she was being told of the possibilities of him returning those feelings. Sonic would never admit to having a crush. Amy realized why Sonic was so against love. She felt a pinch in her chest at the idea of Sonic still weeping over Sally.

"We need to hurry," Shadow urged.

"We'll take on Cryssi and her scrap metal of an army," Vector cracked his knuckles. Espio and Charmy punched each other's fists.

Rouge proudly smirked, "I already called backup. They'll be there any second." Most people wouldn't see Rouge as the quick thinker she really was.

Tails placed a hand on Amy's shoulder. It was comforting to Amy and helped her continue to level her breathing. He faced everyone else with a determined look. Now that Sonic wasn't there, it was natural for Tails to take on the role as the leader. "Amy, Shadow and I will go over the crowd as soon as possible to get to Sonic. Everyone else will stay back." Tails paused for a moment and looked at Aleena, as if he already forgot that she was the mother of Sonic, "You can come with us too."

Aleena thoughtfully frowned for a moment. "No," she finally said. "I'm going to stay behind. Even though he is my own son, you three are a lot closer to him than I. Please, go ahead and save Sonic from himself." Amy met Aleena's eyes with her own. She then realized how the queen had looked so familiar. Sonic's famous green eyes were given to him from his mom.

"We're going now," Shadow announced.

Amy could tell he was already beginning to release his hold on the chaos energy. "Wait," she quickly tried to stop him. It was too late, Amy could feel herself slipping away. "There's also something I need to tell you guys!" No one heard her. There was a flash once more. Almost as if she had woken up from a daydream, Amy found herself facing Cryssi once more. Amy wasn't scared anymore. She was refreshed, her throat was no longer sore and her cheeks weren't stiff from drying tears.

"-actually a highclass prince," Cryssi finished her sentence. No one spoke. "That's right, he was born into royalty. He never told any of you guys since he ran away. He even faked his own death to live a second life here. You guys are nothing but his cover from his own kingdom." Her smirk began to fade as no one looked surprised. "Do you want to know why he ran-"

"We don't care," Knuckles snarled. The echidna was angry, he needed to punch a few hundred robots.

"Whatever you say to us will not matter, Cryssi," Tails took a step forward. Cryssi, although she tried to remain a tough demeanor, took a step back. "You were once our friend and I understand that you were famously deceived by Eggman, just as Sonic probably had been, so I'll give you a chance now to come back to us."

"I'm not dedicated to any of you," Cryssi snarled, "and I'm not being deceived. I chose my life now and I would rather die than to choose to go back!"

"Be careful what you wish for," Rouge crossed her arms over her chest.

Cryssi growled at Rouge, "Is that a threat?"

"Take it as you want. I don't care."

Cryssi turned back to the robots. She pulled a remote out of her pocket. "I'm done talking," Cryssi began to walk into the swarm of robots. Each began to flicker to life. Their eyes glowed red as they searched for their targets. Arms creaked as if each robot had been still for along time.

"Go now," Cream called out as the army began to attack.

Tails squeezed the rabbit's arm before going to Amy. He quickly handed her the energy tracker and grabbed her other wrist. Amy held his in return to assure that their hold wont be broken. Tails lifted Amy up into the air. The robots remained unaware of them floating above their heads.

Shadow opted for the ground. Even without his powers, he was still athletically strong. Shadow gracefully jumped from robot to robot as if they were stepping stones. Some fell over to the ground after he kicked their heads. As always, Eggman's quantity of robots didn't lead up to the quality.

"Amy," Tails looked down at her, he let her see his worried expression, "what do you think is going to happen to Sonic?"

Amy knew. She couldn't bring herself to say that Sonic might be gone forever. "Nothing," Amy settled on. She won't let Sonic leave. Not even the tides of an army can stop her.

* * *

><p><strong>I wonder if Sonic is really as selfless as Cream says. From her point of view, he does sound selfless, from Aleena's view he seems more selfish. <strong>

**Next chappie should come out quick because it's all of the letters.**


	30. Yours Truly

**This is shorter since it's just the letters.**

**Chapter: Yours Truly**

* * *

><p><em>Dear Team Chaotix,<em>

_You're a quirky bunch! It's great to see you guys working together so well, even if you do fight a lot. I'll be frank, when I first met you three I wasn't expecting your team to last so long. I thought you'd eventually give up on the job but you really have dedication. I have to respect all of you for that. When I'm gone, I hope that I can trust you three to continue on protecting our little town. On that note, I am leaving. I have no time for a proper goodbye and I don't think anyone will worry much. It's no big deal, I'm just going to a better place. Good luck on your futures._

_Sincerely,_

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Rouge,<em>

_I'm glad that you've managed to stay out of trouble for so long. I'd have to say Knuckles' uptightness is starting to rub off on you. He doesn't even bother accusing you of trying to take his Master Emerald anymore, that's real trust from him. He even still becomes suspicious of Tails and I from time to time. It's great to see your relationship in full swing. You're good for him, really. As a friend of Knuckles, and you, I hope you both overcome any obstacles. I don't know if any of this really matters coming from me but you two really have something special. Feel free to push his buttons more often. _

_In the past, you've really helped me out. You were always good for sneaking around for information when we needed it. It also makes me feel better knowing that you chose to stick it to Eggman instead of following him. Even on Earth you showed up all of those humans! _

_Also, I know you've been kind of avoiding me since the fair. I'm not completely dumb, I could tell. It's okay, I don't hate you or anything. You don't know, so it's not your fault. I just really can't date anyone. I can't bring myself to explain it but I have no doubt that you'll eventually find out. So don't feel bad. Whether or not you set me up on a blind date for your own personal gain doesn't matter, but thanks anyways._

_Just so that I don't weird you out I'm going to get to the chase. You see, I have to leave, today. Really, really early today. Nobody is even up this early. I have no time to say goodbye and I'm certain no one would understand why I have to leave. It's just easier to say bye without conflict. So goodbye._

_Sincerely,_

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Cream &amp; Vanilla,<em>

_Thanks so much for all you've done for me. I remember when I first came here you guys welcomed me even though I was a total stranger. You guys took Tails's word when he kept talking about how I was apparently a good person. I never saw what he meant, but thank you. Thank you for putting so much trust in the world. You both see something in everyone. You even helped Rouge! You guys are the true heroes._

_Anything that requires for me to use good judgement came from you guys. Both of you have such well manners that I wish the rest of the world held the same high standards, life would be so much better then._

_Also, Cream, I can't thank you enough for what you've done to Tails. After the Cosmo incident, I wasn't sure if he'd ever fully recover. You were there for him the whole time throughout your entire childhood, even when I wasn't. So thank you. _

_I have to leave now. I can't say goodbye any time now. I'll be gone by morning. Please, just be there for Tails in my place._

_Yours Truly,_

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Knuckles,<em>

_Now before you freak out, there is no emergency. This is just merely a letter from a friend. I just wanted to say goodbye. Something has come up and I have to leave. I can't bring myself to explain what exactly is happening, but everything will be alright. You won't see me again and I won't see you, but that's alright. Things just happen and we can't do anything about it. You just have to go with the flow, you know?_

_It's been good seeing you more laid back lately. You make bad jokes more often than you used to and you don't seem to be punching things as much, which is another plus since I'm sure you could take out an entire forest. You deserve to be calm and collected after all of your hard work._

_I also wanted to thank you. I mean I know you didn't exactly like me at first since I was pretty annoying, but we've become very close. You're like a crazy uncle, even though your only a couple years older than me. You've really taught me something though: dedication is important. You're so dedicated to your family pride and Master Emerald you barely bothered for a life outside. I would even say that you didn't start hanging around us until Rouge came along. I know you try to show people that you're always upset with them, but I can tell underneath that hot headed ness of yours that you secretly aren't always that angry._

_Goodbye._

_Sincerely, _

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mom,<em>

_You've tried so hard to make me right. Everything you did was for my best interest. I am selfish and horrible and don't deserve you. Even when I was just a baby you cared for me even though most royal parents just let the maids do that. In all of your spare time you cared for me, Manic, and Sonia. I know that I'm lucky to have such a great childhood because of you. Even after dad died, you became extremely busy and went for months without seeing us but as soon as you had the chance you would seek out your kids. _

_I remember that song that you used to sing me whenever I was upset. I know that you still have the song memorized as I do too. I never really thought much of the song until now, but I think I understand it. You were trying to tell me something, that all good things don't last. Time doesn't stop as life continues. Before things end, there's always a feeling of happiness. _

_Before the accident, I was content with my life. Then the accident happened and I felt like I was the only person hung up on what had happened. I ran away from all of the memories that constantly told me about Sally. Here, I became happy again, but this too must come to an end. I can't let Sally go._

_A voice in my head is telling me that I can't let something go from here, but I must just be over thinking. I tend to overthink a lot I guess, but I won't this time._

_Don't worry, I'm going to set you free from me. Go back to your home and just live a normal life, or as normal as you can. You can tell Manic and Sonia about me. I give you permission to since all of this won't matter to anyone else anymore. I have to leave. I can't say goodbye in person. I just can't. You'd try to hold me back. I know you regret ever letting me go, but you have to right now._

_I know I don't say it much but I love you._

_Goodbye,_

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Shadow,<em>

_I have to say that I'm pretty honored that you don't completely hate me. When we first met you did get me in jail and try to destroy me and all, good thing we both got over that! I don't know how I'd ever manage with you as my enemy, if that's even possible. You always try to say you hate me but I know for a fact that you don't so it's pointless for you to pretend anymore._

_Even though you kind of stole the information, I'm glad you knew the whole time about me. I honestly wasn't expecting for you to do that much research on me, not even Eggman did that! _

_I appreciate you, and I know if I were to ever actually tell you this that you'd punch me in the face again. It's true though. I was able to show up at your door when I needed to and you were willing to help me._

_Thanks for trying to find out what Eggman has been up to this past year. I know I kind of freaked out that he was potentially trying to kill me but it doesn't really bother me anymore. You don't need to keep an eye on Eggman or try to find his where about. I'm almost certain that by later today everything will be over. _

_I just have to say goodbye now. _

_Bye Shads._

_Forever imagining you naked, _

_Sonic_

_P.S. That was a joke. _

* * *

><p><em>Hey Tails!<em>

_I'm not sure what to even say to you. For a few moments I was on a role, I couldn't stop writing. Yet here I am, stuck at you. You're the brainiac. What am I supposed to say? You tell me._

_What's up? That's how you start these things, right? I mean I didn't start any letter like that before but I'm sure that's what normal people write._

_Anyways, I have some news for you. I feel guilty since you've stuck by my side all these years, you are truly the best friend I could ever have, but I have to go. I'm leaving forever I guess. There's just somethings I have to do. I know it's always been hard to tell but I'm an adult, meaning I have to make adult decisions and become serious._

_I'm sorry. That's all that I feel. I'm sorry that I'm the worst friend you could ever have. I kept things from you, I lied and I avoided everyone (including you) whenever I felt "too emotional." How can you look at me so happy and call me your best friend? Little buddy, I am no friend if I can't even admit things to you. I'm sorry that after all we've been through I'm leaving. My only solution to my problems is leaving. I don't know why, but this feels mostly right. I have so much guilt eating away at me that I must go. What's worse is that I still can't tell you what's bothering me. It's not your fault, it's something that happened before we met. I'm pathetic. I'm still keeping things from you._

_You're a good kid and I'm leaving you in charge. Take care of Amy for me, okay? And good luck with Cream. She makes you happy._

_Thanks for the best friendship ever,_

_Sonic_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Amy,<em>

_There was a time not so long ago. You popped up from a big city in the need for a job. You became more than just a tutor for Cream, you are her sister and she is yours. You had a way to connect with everyone, even though when we first met I was kind of a cocky ass, and I believe I still am, yet you gave me a chance. It was miracle how you and I seemed to just click together._

_I wonder, how could you have done this to me? Why me? Of all the hedgehogs in the world, why did you have to attach yourself to me? And why did I attach myself to you? We are supposed to be adults. I've known you for barely over a year yet it feels like a lifetime, but there is still a life I had before._

_I'm not sure what you know but there was clearly a time before I lived in Emerald Town. I never spoke about it, which was my choice. The others never told you anything about it because they didn't know either, for the most part I still intend to keep it that way. My point is that my past still haunts me. It will always haunt me. I came here to escape but I now know that is not an option. No matter how fast I run, it will always catch up to me. In a horrible metaphorical sense, I have now decided to stop running, turn around and go straight to my problem. It is my only option and it is the right thing for me to do. The other day was the very last time you'll ever see me._

_I never realized how beautiful you were until now. Your eyes, quills, smile, soul, and so much more. Everything about you is amazing. You crazy girl, you've even managed to make tripping over yourself seem precious._

_I'm sorry. I know about your feelings. I am a sick person who knew about how you felt towards me and yet I led you on. I didn't think much on it, but when I did I actually cherished it. I've always told everyone I met to not fall in love with me. I even told you not to. Of course you're a stubborn thing and ignored me. Yet, I enjoyed it. I don't know why, but I feel honored that you feel something towards me, but now is the time to move on. I'm sorry. I'm leaving. This is my goodbye. Don't come looking for me. Don't do anything. Just live your normal life. You have so much potential. If you have to, move and get a new start once more. You know that song; go wherever the silver wind takes you._

_Please don't cry. I would hate myself even more if I made you cry. Don't let someone like me affect you._

_I'm sorry._

_Continue to amaze the world,_

_Sonic_

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><p><strong>So close to 100 reviews!<strong>


	31. Don't Let Me Go

**I don't know what it is but I just love these four words...**

**Chapter: Don't Let Me Go**

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><p>"Tails please hurry," Amy begged for the hundredth time. Over time the fox had begun to slow down from tiredness. Not getting enough sleep was beginning to take effect on him. The fox didn't bother to reply. Instead, he pushed himself onward. Amy took into consideration to weakness that was growing over him. She easily slid out of his fingers and landed on the ground. Amy took no time to admire the trees around her. They seemed to rustle their branches in anticipation as the trio neared the Master Emerald.<p>

"It's just ahead," Shadow announced. Even completely losing his control over chaos didn't hold him back. Being the furthest ahead proved that Shadow didn't need the chaos energy tracker to find the location of the Master Emerald.

Tails landed next to Amy to continue on his feet. Both were panting heavily. Only the name Sonic kept the two running for his life.

Shadow was the first to break through the line of trees. He slowed to a stop in surprise to see both Sonic and Eggman seeming to have a conversation. Both men were unaware of his presence. The distance between him and them made it difficult to even understand what was being said. What was even more a shock to Shadow was the giant ring wrapped about the border of the top of the Master Emerald. The gem was balanced gracefully on its tip.

Sonic stood at the very edge of the metal contraption stuck to the emerald. He was staring at his feet as if he was contemplating whether or not to step onto the flat surface of the glossy jewel. Eggman grinned wickedly at the blue hedgehog. His loud voice, although not audible enough to Shadow, rambled on gleefully to the dull hedgehog.

Amy and Tails skidded to a halt behind Shadow. Both were confused as they looked at the scene unfolding ahead of them.

Eggman raised a small statue. Tails instantly recognized it as the angel statue from the town legend. "Of course Eggman stole it!" he grumbled angrily. All three could tell that Eggman was giving a mock laugh as he set the statue onto the Emerald.

"So he's actually doing it," Shadow spoke mostly to himself in wonder.

The Master Emerald began to glow from the core. The light, which had first started out as a dim flicker, began to grow more and more powerful.

"Doing what?" Amy asked in a panic.

Shadow began to run forward to get closer to Sonic and Eggman, whom were still oblivious to their appearance. "It's a crazy idea," Shadow explained, "I didn't really believe it when I found the blueprints, and I still wouldn't if I wasn't here right now. If this is really happening, Eggman wants to connect two worlds, our's and the paranormal world, and raise an army of spirits. A year ago he tried to kill Sonic, and I think instead Sonic is just going to disappear."

"What?!" Amy exclaimed.

As the got closer the wind began to pick up. The grass blew over, creating the effect of waves on the ocean. Amy's bangs were whipped back as she had to squint her eyes against the wind.

"You mean Sonic is going to kill himself?!" Tails hysterically asked. He stopped in place as if he could no longer bear to move on. Both Amy and Shadow stopped to look back at him.

"It's the only thing I can think of," Shadow replied honestly.

Sonic looked up from the tips of his shoes. He took notice of the group no more than 50 ft away. Eggman, following Sonic's trail of sight, also realized that the three were close. He knew he had to hurry before something in the blue hedgehog clicks.

"I don't want to lose another friend!" Tails quickly turned to Amy. He grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her lightly, "You have to do something, _now_!"

"Like what?!"

"Just talk to him! If we chase after him he'll just run away. Or worse! He'll jump into the other world and be gone forever!"

"There is no such thing as forever!" Amy determinedly turned back to Sonic. She began to walk closer and closer. No one else moved but Amy. "Sonic the Hedgehog," Amy furiously yelled.

Sonic focused his sights on Amy. He was surprised that they managed to show up so early. Sonic realized that for him this wasn't going to be easy. Amy never made it easy.

"Are you crazy?!" Amy placed her hands on her hips. "You can't just leave!"

Sonic carefully looked at Amy. He noticed her slightly tousled look and flushed cheeks. It was easy to tell based on the way her chest was heaving that Amy had done a lot of running. "You don't understand," Sonic clearly said as he looked away. He met his eyes with Eggman's. For once the man wanted to stay silent.

"I know everything," Amy choked.

Sonic kept his expression blank. Internally, he was screaming. "What are you talking about?"

"I know _everything_. I know about your past life. I know that Aleena is actually your mom. I know you're a prince. I know what happened to Sally. I know-"

"Shut up!" Sonic half screeched, reaching up to rake his hands through his quills. He bent down, almost curling in on his knees. "You don't know! You know nothing, Amy!"

Amy decided to take a new approach. "I got your letter," she held up the slip of paper. Sonic stared at it for a moment with interest. To Amy's relief, he didn't show any embarrassment. "Did you mean everything you said in the letter?"

"Every single word."

Eggman muttered something to Sonic. She wasn't positive what had came out of the old man's mouth, but she was almost certain he said, "It's time." Sonic straightened up. He stared at the top of the Emerald. His already green eyes reflected the bright hue.

Amy took a few steps forward. "Then you have to stay," she almost begged. "Sonic, why can't you see that all of us are here for you."

"But I'm not there for her. I have to be there for her."

Amy began to see the guilt that had been imprinted onto Sonic. She wondered where the past love had ended and the obligation started. "Would Sally really want you to do..._this_?" She gestured around them as the unnatural wind began to pick up.

"You don't know her! You never met her!" Sonic glared at Amy as if she had committed the worst crime from speaking of the squirrel's name.

Amy couldn't explain to Sonic how she had met his princess. Now wasn't an appropriate time. The blue hedgehog wouldn't understand. He couldn't see that the only reason Amy ever met him was because of Sally.

Sonic edged dangerously close to the portal. Eggman rolled his eyes with an impatient expression. "Any moment," Eggman announced loudly.

"Be quiet!" Amy took out her hammer. She pointed it threateningly at Eggman. With a more caring look, she turned her head to Sonic. "Please see this from our view," Amy's eyes were glossed with kept tears, "you're special to us. You're a brother, best friend, companion, and anything greater than that. We all love you so much. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You hurt yourself over and over again by suppressing everything. You lie to yourself and then you lie to us. If you leave right now you will be a murderer. I will never forgive you for killing the greatest person that I have ever met." Amy sighed. Her arm fell limply to her side with her hammer still being grasped tightly. "Please know one thing; one important thing that will never change. If you walk away right here, right now, you can always run back. You'll always be welcomed because I can never hate you. Please come home before it's too late."

Sonic stared at Amy. He shifted back, away from the Master Emerald, slightly. He visibly choked while trying to swallow back the lump in his throat. Sonic looked at Eggman with a confused expression.

"Don't listen to her," Eggman sneered.

The hedgehog didn't reply. Instead, Sonic looked over at Tails and Shadow. His fox friend just gaped in horror at the scene. Shadow remained stoical with his arms folded across his chest. For once, Sonic couldn't read the dark hedgehog.

Lastly, Sonic looked back at Amy. Just like his own, her quills were tousled and unkept. Her cheeks flushed from lack of air and almost crying. Sonic didn't want to see her cry. It wasn't worth it.

"I'm sorry," Sonic quickly said. He turned to the Emerald and jumped forward. As someone would when jumping into still water, Sonic broke through the surface and disappeared.

"Sonic!" Amy screamed while reaching forward. She could dimly hear Eggman laughing as she fell to her knees. Amy blindly flung her hammer into his general direction in fury. Unfortunately, she missed. Amy could see her own hands shake as she brought them up to cover her face.

"You lost!" Eggman taunted. "Now nothing is holding me back! Your emotional wreck of a hero is gone along with any chance of me being stopped now!"

"Why are you doing this?" Amy sobbed. She couldn't even bring herself to look up at the human.

Eggman brought his hand up to his chin. Not once did his sinister grin fade, "I want control: complete control. Control over this world and the next!"

Amy felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She didn't look up at the source of the warmth. Amy couldn't move. No comforting could lift her spirits, not even the satisfaction of defeating Eggman.

"You've made a mistake Eggman!" Shadow yelled. His voice felt distant to Amy, as if everyone around her were standing miles away. "You idiot! You never learn! Using chaos power as an energy source is one of the worst decisions that can be made by someone who doesn't know how to properly harness it!"

Tails' voice chimed in beside Shadow's, "So while you went out of your way to upset some angel to get the energy levels to rise, you ruined the farmland, destroyed Cryssi's family, caused Sonic to basically _kill_ himself, Amy to pass out from shock and made the energy lose control!"

In front of the Master Emerald laid Amy. Her face was buried into the side of her own arm. Her sleeping state made her appear calm in the crazy situation.

"Guess what, Eggman," Shadow sighed, "we all lose."

* * *

><p>Amy blinked a couple times. She realized that none of the three voices were anywhere near her. "<em>Who is touching me?!<em>" her mind almost screamed. Amy whipped her head up. The very first thing she noticed was that she was no longer with Shadow and Tails. Their faded voices could no longer be heard.

Amy spun her head. A delicate hand retracted from her shoulder. Amy followed the arm up to the person. "You!" she called out disbelief. "I didn't think I would ever see you again!"

"Amy, you have to go after him," Sally urged the pink hedgehog.

Amy stood up. She took a step back from the squirrell while shaking her head. "You've been watching over me. You must've seen Sonic. You heard him. He chose you over me- over all of us. He is literally looking for you at this very second! Why won't _you_ go look for him?"

"Because!" Sally yelled back. It was the first time Amy had ever seen the princess talk in such a flustered matter. "I can't reach out to Sonic! I'm reaching out to you and you only! Sonic isn't healthy in the mind! Seeing me will just make matters worse! Can't you see that you're the only person who can truly help him?"

Amy growled in frustration. She wanted to punch something, anything, but she knew that wouldn't help the situation. "Can't you see that the only one who can truly help him is the love of his life?"

Sally dramatically threw her hands into the air. "What is wrong with you hedgehogs?" she questioned in an exasperated manner. "Each and every one of you is so stubborn! I'm not the love of his life!" Sally's voice broke on the last syllable. Her eyes watered just as much as Amy's had. "I know you noticed. Sonic the Hedgehog just killed himself over guilt, not love. He keeps saying that it's something he _has_ to do. Not once did he mention he's killing himself over love!"

Amy stood there speechless. She looked down at her boots, unable to bear witness of the tears that streamed down Sally's face.

"Please! I need you to help my friend!"

"Why didn't you just tell me from the start to do this?" Amy looked up at Sally. "For the past year I've been asking questions. If I was just given answers right away, I could've done something a long time ago, before it was too late. So why couldn't I just have been told that Sonic needed help? Or how you knew him and who he really was?"

"If I told you," Sally spoke slowly, "then you would have done it out of obligation, just as he is. Now, it's out of love with your free will."

"...Love?"

Sally smiled sadly. She reached forward and took Amy into her arms. Sally didn't mind that it was only a one sided huge, the warmthness in her had long faded away. She could feel the small hedgehog in her arms shiver. Sally almost forgot that the perfect girl for Sonic was barely nineteen at this point. Amy was so young yet she had lived most of her life alone. Sally couldn't imagine what it would be like after having to lose another person.

"You can't give up," Sally whispered to Amy, "go in there and get Sonic. Make him see how much he cares for you back."

"Are you sure you can't just talk to him?" Amy mumbled into Sally's shirt. She closed her eyes, pushing out the water that was stuck to her eyes.

Sally smiled, "I'm afraid not. I have to go. I have to go to where people like me belong. I don't need to linger here anymore. It'll be easy to go back through the portal. I need to tell the others to not cross over. I need to warn them about the man that's trying to torture us. One of the angels is becoming more and more upset."

"Eggman," Amy growled. She pulled away and looked Sally into the mind with new determination. "He's responsible. He used Sonic's pain against him."

"If Sonic was in his right mind, he would never have done a thing like this," Sally sighed. She began to walked backwards, away from Amy. "You have to go. The portal won't last long. Get Sonic and get out of there. If you see anyone other than him, ignore them."

"Wait! Where will her be?"

Sally shrugged her shoulders, "You'll find him."

Amy could hear the voices begin to come back to her. Shadow was yelling, harshly. She could only figure it was directed at Eggman. Amy was about to let go of Sally, wake up and get Sonic, when a sudden thought crossed her mind. It was small and meaningless to most people. She remembered a detail Sonic had told her in his bedtime story. "One more thing!" Amy yelled at the last minute. Sally's attention was more focused. "Why did you love sunsets so much?"

The squirrell smiled upon fond thoughts of her childhood. Even though it had been years, she looked as young as she was on the last day she was able to ever witness the sun setting with Sonic. "I knew that at the end of the sunset, I would have to go home. It was always the last moment I got to spend with Sonic. That was okay, though, because I always returned the next day. That time is over now. Good-bye, Amy Rose. You won't be seeing me again."

Sally was gone.

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><p>Amy's eyes shot opened. Before she even had time to take in the atmosphere around her, she pushed herself off of the ground. The wind was even more fierce than it was before. Her quills whipped around her face.<p>

"Amy!" Tails yelled. She briefly looked over to both Shadow and Tails, who were now fighting Eggman's robots. The man himself stood back, admiring his work. With a smirk, Eggman raised the mini statue and smashed it against the edge of the portal. At that very moment, the air thickened and the sky darkened. Amy knew it was no coincidence as the Master Emerald glowed brighter than ever.

"You damn idiot!" Shadow yelled as he knocked Decoe out of his way. He marched right up to Eggman, who still towered over the already tall hedgehog. "What do you think you're trying to do?! You already lost," he almost spat in the doctor's face.

Amy had no time to linger and watch them fight. While everyone else was occupied, Amy scurried up to the Emerald. She grabbed on the edge of the metal contraption to hoist herself up. The air six feet higher seemed more harsh than it was at ground level.

Tails realized that Amy was no longer on the ground. His head instantly snapped towards the portal, where said person was standing. "Amy!" Tails stopped his battle for a moment. "What are you doing?!"

Shadow looked up from Eggman. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the pink hedgehog staring at the glassy surface. "Amy don't do it!" Shadow commanded. He reached out to pull her back. Without the power of chaos, Shadow didn't have a boost to help him.

Amy didn't respond. There was no time to explain. Amy pushed off of the ground. She shut her eyes and let herself fall through the dark. A brush of cool ran over her skin. The frigid air left goosebumps covering her skin. She assumed in a second that shed had broken the surface.

Surprisingly, Amy's feet didn't hit the ground. Gravity seemed to shift on the pink hedgehog. A gasp of air was forced out of her once her back hit carpet. Wincing, Amy slowly sat up.

The air was eerily still. Only a dim light shined into the room. Amy furrowed her eyebrows. The hallway stretched far ahead of her. It ended in a small, dark square. Along one wall were windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Amy tried to get a glimpse outside. There were no scenery, all she saw was endless white just like in her dreams.

Amy looked back to where she came from. The hallway started just at the border of the two worlds. Amy couldn't see anything from the living, only a green glow was visible.

She turned her attention back to the hallway. Amy hoped that wherever she was, Sonic had came through here.

"I will never leave without you," Amy said into the silence. She took off down the straight hallway. The far wall grew closer and closer. She could now make out two large doors. Amy pushed herself to run faster and faster.

Through her heavy breaths Amy heard a soft giggle. She skidded to a stop. The french doors were so close, but her curiosity held her back. Amy hadn't noticed before that there were individual doors parallel to the windows. One skinny door in particular was cracked open.

Amy slowly approached the door. More voices became audible as she neared it. Each sounded young and pure, as if children were playing. Amy inched the door opened more. She peeked her head into the room.

Her green eyes enlarged as she lightly gasped. Amy couldn't believe what she was looking at. Four children ran around the room. Three of them were hedgehogs, out of those three one was blue. Amy couldn't keep her eyes off of him! It was a younger Sonic the hedgehog. She had to guess that he was at least 12 years younger here. Amy then recognized Princess Sally. The squirrel was a lot smaller and held baby fat in her cheeks. It was aweing to see the little girl cower behind her prince. Sonic stood confidently in front of the two other hedgehogs that Amy couldn't recognize.

Each child had a fake sword in their hands. Amy remembered it being common everywhere around the entire world to play knights. She even remembered her own cardboard sword from when she was living around a park. All of the other kids that visited for the day would want to play with her. It was always a roleplay that brought children together.

Amy smiled sadly before closing the door. She didn't bother to open any other doors she had passed. She knew each door would hold a hint of Sonic's past. There was no doubt in her mind that Sonic had looked into every room already. If that was really the case, then he had saw Sally.

Amy sprinted the rest of the distance down the hallway. When she finally reached the doors, she opened them with her upper body weight by leaning onto the door. Amy found herself stumbling into a strange atmosphere. She was now standing on plush grass, so green she would have thought someone came by and painted it. Trees and flowers, equally as perfect, were displayed right in front of a stone wall that seemed to lock her in. Anything beyond the was the signature hazy white.

Amy slowly spun around as she walked down a path of flat rocks. She gasped when she looked back and saw that the building was a lot larger on the outside. It towered high above her. Amy was certain that she could fit her own house inside of the mansion 100 times. She concluded that this had to be a castle, a place where Sonic grew up.

Amy rounded the corner of the building. Her breath hitched when she saw Sonic sitting on the wall. He didn't seem to be looking for someone. Instead, his head hung low as if he had just decided to give up and never move from his spot.

The girl slowly crept up behind him. She was glad that his back was to her, it gave her time to decided what to say first. Unfortunately, the only thing she could muster was his name. "Sonic," Amy reached up to pull herself onto the wall beside him.

Sonic quickly looked down at Amy. He leaned back in horror, unable to say a word.

"You look like you just saw someone get murdered," Amy remarked as she swung her leg over to face him. On top of the wall, she saw how tiny the castle was compared to the space. As far as the eye could see was just a blinding light. It was almost as if someone made this place with no intention of ever leaving the property.

Sonic grabbed Amy's arm, almost squeezing it too tightly. Amy feared that, by his expression, Sonic was about to explode. "What are you doing here?" Sonic's voice was revealing his worried feelings.

Amy blinked a couple of times at him, wondering if she was going to wake up at any moment. "Me?" she wondered in utter disbelief. "What about you?"

Sonic shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm fine." He charmingly smiled, even though it looked as if it was physically hurting him.

Amy started crying once more. She couldn't stop herself. If Amy stayed there, she would end up drowning in her own tears. In sloppy clumps, the salt water streamed down her puffy cheeks.

"Amy," Sonic stopped smiling, "What's the matter?"

Amy only responded in whimpers as she looked down at her hands. The tear drops stung as they fell onto her burning palms. She blinked a couple of times before closing her eyes, hoping that it would tame her grief. "_I'm supposed to be the emotionally strong one_," Amy scolded herself. She bit down harshly on her quivering lip.

Sonic whispered rapid shushes at Amy. On instinct, he pulled her into his chest while patting down the back of her quills. "Amy, Amy, Amy," he repeated into her ear over and over again. Each time he said her name, his voice grew softer and softer.

"Why do you have to go?" Amy's question was muffled by his embrace.

Sonic placed his chin on the top of her head. There was significant moment before he spoke, "I don't think I'll find her."

"I'm sorry," Amy whispered. At that moment, she was tempted to tell Sonic everything. Just as he kept a secret from her, she kept one from him. It was time he knew. "Listen, Sonic," Amy pulled away from him first, at the same moment she missed being close to him, "there's something I need to tell you." Amy forgot that she was on a time restricted schedule.

"No," Sonic prevented her from speaking any further, "I need to speak first. I should be the one apologizing. I hid stuff from you-"

"But-"

"I acted moody around you guys just because I felt like I had to blame someone. Sally left me behind! It killed me! It angered me! It messed me up! I thought if I didn't show it, then it would eventually go away. It didn't work. How could she do this to me?"

Amy sighed while slowly shaking her head. She rubbed her hand up and down his shoulder as someone would do to console a child. "Sonic," Amy mumbled his name, "why can't you see that things just happen? We can't control everything. Sally didn't mean to leave you. It was just an accident. An awful accident, but there are still good things in your life. You aren't dead. You were never dead. Why must you be so blind to all of this greatness around you?"

Sonic grinned, which confused Amy. It seemed like a natural grin, the one that perfectly fitted his face and brightened the rest of his features. Amy saw now that his bipolar mood had currently risen. "I'm not done," Sonic clicked his tongue. "I saw a bunch of different parts of my childhood. Sally was in every single one of them."

"I saw one," Amy confirmed. Her mind vaguely pictured the youthful Sonic playing with people of his old life, the life before she was a part of it. He had seemed normal then. Amy wouldn't want Sonic to be normal though. She knew him from the moment he was crazy. She loved him just the way he was. Sonic was truly a weird individual and she wouldn't have him any other way, definitely not a preppy prince. "You were playing with her and these two other kids," Amy added.

"At first, I was mad, seeing a me with Sally. I thought of how lucky he was, but how he didn't know that she wouldn't be there forever. I kept trying to get her attention in each memory, but she didn't look at me once in a single one. It was as if I wasn't even there to her. In the very last door, there was just Sally. No one else but her dancing alone. I stood there, watching her. She looked just as she had the last day I saw her. Surprisingly, I didn't feel a thing. I thought I would be relieved, but I was kind of empty. Sally suddenly fell over as if something pushed her. I still didn't move. I just closed the door and came out of here."

Amy didn't respond. She imagined Sonic standing still while watching his ex girlfriend die, a scene he had guilted himself for about seven years.

"Do you want to know why I didn't do anything?"

Amy looked up at Sonic. Their green eyes clashed with one another. Amy looked into the same eyes that many other girls had previously swooned over. She didn't need to respond.

"I realized that whatever I saw wasn't really Sally. Sally is gone and you're right, she wouldn't like my behavior. More than that, as soon as I left, something was wrong. Right away I felt out of place. I wanted to be out there sitting at the diner or showing off as I defeat Eggman. I couldn't live without you guys, or I guess in this case it's die without you."

Despite the situation, Amy giggled at Sonic's lame attempt at a joke. "Do you really mean it?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

Sonic nodded his head. "I want to go home."

As soon as Sonic said that, Amy pulled him close and brushed her lips against his cheek. Sonic stiffened for a moment before taking in the embrace. This was right. Everything was falling into place. Sonic smiled at Amy. His face was unusually tinted red. He wanted to do something risky and completely out of character. Who was he anyways? Sonic was all about taking risks.

The blue hedgehog slowly leaned in towards Amy. Her eyes were frozen opened as Sonic closed his. This was just what she had waited for. Amy was still waiting to wake up. Sonic actually liked her back! No. "Like" was a child's word. It had to be something different, something more.

Despite the possibly most amazing moment of her life about to occur, Amy had to stop it. Her logical sense creamed at her that time was still ticking. "Wait!" Amy really hated herself. "We have to go, _now_," she pressed on as she quickly jumped off of the wall. She didn't care to admire the perfect grass this time.

Sonic sat there dumbfounded for a second. "Did I just get rejected?" he asked aloud to no one in particularly.

Amy pulled Sonic by his hand. "No, you dingdong!" she rolled her eyes as he slide off the wall. "The portal isn't stable! It can close at any moment!"

"There's always something wrong with Eggman's ideas," Sonic muttered. He turned on his serious face. Sonic picked Amy up and gracefully dashed inside. The windows flew by them. Amy briefly glanced behind them. Over Sonic's shoulder she could see the four children looking at them from the door.

Ahead, the connection began to flicker. Amy feared that they wouldn't make it. The hallway felt longer than it was before. It was almost as if it was challenging Sonic to cheat death, even though Sonic didn't technically die.

With luck, they broke through. It hurt crossing back into their own world. The air was no longer peaceful, but instead harsh. Amy kept her eyes opened this time. Instead of the peaceful lack of life, noise was thrown everywhere. People yelling, some sounded happier than others, as the wind harshly whined.

Amy was then aware that Sonic had launched them high into the air. The feeling of free falling put her nerves on edge. She desperately want to latch onto something solid. With her hands laced behind Sonic's neck, Amy still didn't get rid of her anxiety in the idea of Sonic falling with her.

"It's Sonic and Amy!"

As the duo neared the field, it became clear that everyone had arrived in the time that they were gone. Cryssi was restrained by Rouge. Eggman stood on his knees with his hands in the air as a surrender. Shadow stood next to the evil scientist with a smirk on his face. Rouge's "backup" was mixed into the group. The crew that Team Sonic met last year had appeared ready to help as much as possible.

Sonic spun in mid air in an attempt to stop the momentum. He landed on his feet swiftly for a split second before his knees gave out. Both Amy and Sonic tumbled through the tall grass. Sonic rolled a couple of times before settling on his back. When his dizziness cleared, he found Tails staring directly down at him.

"Are you you?" Tails asked curiously.

"I'm me," Sonic managed, trying to hide the fact that he was indeed very sore. Aleena smiled from the very back of the crowd. She quickly whipped away a tear of pure joy.

"You should really work on that," Amy grunted as Cream tried to help her up.

"I'll keep that in mind next time I fall from 200 feet."

Amy noticed that the light of the Emerald Dimmed. The machine around it fell, now lying useless on the ground. "I'm glad that's over," Amy attempted to lift everyone else's spirits. Why was only her and Sonic so lively?

"No yet," Shadow warned. Everyone backed away quickly. Cream half dragged Amy along with her. Eggman was left on his own. The old man struggled to stand up on his own.

The Master Emerald began to shake as the ground rumbled around them; someone was coming.

* * *

><p><strong>It's not over just yet... two more chapters *cries*<strong>


	32. Still Waters

**OH MAN! OH MAN! I literally can't think of a chapter title. It's taking longer to think of one than to write this.**

**Chapter: Still Waters**

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><p>Eggman looked fearfully up at the Emerald. He tried his best to wobble away without falling over. The older man was no longer in the proper health to manage on his own. "Decoe! Bocoe!" Eggman snarled for his robots. Both were turned away, ready to flee on their own. They slowly turned around to face their master. "Help me you incompetent fools!" The robots exchanged an unsure glance between one another before ignoring Eggman and running for their own safety.<p>

It's not surprising that in the end the mad scientist is left with no one. Even robots programmed to follow him need some kind of love. Eggman wasn't a man of love, he had never even experienced it, the closest thing was fearful worship.

His weak knees gave out as he fell forward at a final eruption. The ground went still as a beam raised from the top of the emerald. Through the light came a tall woman. The skin that covered her entire body was white. A dress loosely spread around her. Amy had to squint for a moment.

"It can't be," Tails spoke slowly in utter disbelief. He blinked a couple times.

"What? What is it?" Amy asked, being the only person who didn't understand.

Amy looked behind her, everyone was staring directly at the woman. Some were even shaking in slight fear. Their eyes were enlarged.

Sonic pulled his gaze away momentarily to meet Amy's. "Do you remember that Garen's Apparition story with Riley and those other people?"

It took Amy a second to recall the legend that Tails had once told her. She put two and two together, with the new information she looked back at the woman who stood silently. "Are you saying that's an angel?"

"_Yes._"

Everyone jumped at the outside voice that invaded their heads.

"Did she just speak?" Charmy wondered aloud. He frantically looked up at the angel from behind Vector's shoulder. "She doesn't even have a mouth!" The only feature of the face that was missing did not affect the angel's ability to communicate.

"_Someone ruined my land_," the angel continued, ignoring the rather ignorant comments made by the small bee. This time, she sounded more angered. Eggman, who could also hear her voice, cowered more. It was too late for him to escape this time. "_My farm is empty even though I've been promised that every year it would be cared for._"

Everyone looked at Eggman. Ultimately, it was him who made Cryssi and her family stop production. It was also him who angered the angel. "Oh come on," Eggman almost begged, "you can't actually blame me! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"All of this is your fault!" Tails yelled while pointing an accusingly at the old man. "We all know that this is what you wanted!"

"I didn't want _this_," Eggman spoke quickly, almost stumbling over his words. "My plan was different! I wanted to take over! I could have!"

"_So it is you who tried to hurt my people_," the angel looked down at Eggman. She gazed curiously at him before glaring. "_Humans: you always think you are better. The ungratefulness on you is disgusting._" Her voice grew more and more harsh.

"I-I'm sorry!" Eggman lowered his head in a mock bow.

"_A word, when overused, means nothing_," the angel closed her eyes. "_I know you. So many times, you've tried to bring others down_." She pointedly looked at Sonic, "_You use their weakness against them. You only care for yourself_," she turned her gaze to the robots in the distance, "_and wonder why you are abandoned._"

Amy looked at Eggman for a moment. She couldn't help the pity she felt for him. Only an hour ago he seemed so confident, now he had been knocked down several miles.

The angel looked down at the group of mobians. "_Why has nobody taken up the farm fields? Or made a tribute on this day? And who has been allowing for my spirits to pass through?_"

Amy had an idea who exactly the spirit was.

"Well none of us actually know how to garden," Rouge spoke on behalf of the whole group. "The most we've ever done was just simple harvest help. The family that originally worked on the farm is gone. The father is dead and his daughter turned over to work for Eggman. She ran off into the woods after their army robot died."

"We had no time to celebrate this holiday," Amy looked over at Eggman. "We have been preoccupied by _him_."

The angel looked down at Eggman. She nodded her head once in understanding. Her anger remained directed at the old man.

"No one from your world came here," Sonic, oblivious to Sally, explained. "Amy and I had went through the passage twice, but that's it."

The angel shook her head, "_You are lying_."

Sonic didn't hide his baffled expression. He looked in a panicked expression around everyone. "But I'm not-"

"_Someone other than this man has been breaking rules and allowing the dead in._"

Amy looked up at Shadow. He silently nodded his head once, edging her to speak up.

"It was me," Amy announced. Sonic's head swiped towards Amy. He mouth hung opened while everyone around him only seemed mildly shocked. Shadow on the other hand remain stoic, already knowing the whole story.

"_I presume if it had to be someone, it would be you_," the angel spoke thoughtfully.

"Amy-" Sonic tried to question her.

"It was for the better," Amy tried to explain. "The girl did it to help us."

"_Spirits have a sixth sense. They should know not to interfere with the living while they are all knowing._"

Amy no longer feared the angel. She saw the being as more of a strict mother or a principle of a boarding school. Amy began to slowly walk closer to her. The angel didn't take her eyes off of the little pink hedgehog. "If she hadn't then we wouldn't have gotten here early enough, the robot army wouldn't have been stopped, Eggman could've gotten farther into his plan, and Sonic would be _dead_!" Amy reasoned.

"_Who is this spirit that you've talked to?_"

Amy sighed, "Her name's Sally."

"Sally Acorn?" Sonic asked. Amy looked back over her shoulder at him. "Princess Sally?"

"_I know of her. She had died 7 years ago. She had followed Sonic the Hedgehog here then disappeared, only to return with Amy Rose._"

"Really?" Sonic asked, still not understanding what was going on.

Shadow stepped forward. He stood next to Amy. "I believe that the princess had not meddled in vain. Can you not see that she had done it for the better?"

The angel looked around. She glared at Eggman and saw him remain still in a pathetic heap. "_I suppose so,_" her voice trailed off. "_I still cannot allow for this to happen again. Return to what you have been doing for the past 100 years as I will close off any connection between my world and yours."_

_"_Thank you for your mercy," Eggman cried tears of joy. Everyone else rolled their eyes, Shadow even scoffed.

"_I am not done with you. Doctor Eggman, I do not need to risk you harming the peace once more. You are coming with me._"

"What?" Eggman wailed. "Sonic, you've got to help me."

Sonic felt multiple pairs of eyes land on him. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked, feeling under pressure.

"You save people all the time."

"I'm always saving them from you," Sonic glared at Eggman.

"If she takes me, I'll be dead," Eggman glance between the angel and Sonic, "then my death will be on your hands."

Amy narrowed her eyes at Eggman. She had to admit that she really wouldn't mind if the angel took Eggman. It would make her life a dozen times better.

Sonic stared at the angel as if he was seriously contemplating going against the omnipotent being to save the man who had just tried to kill him. "How would my death be on your hands?" Sonic asked slowly. "None of this would have happened if you had decided to stay away and leave all of us alone. You made the choice of coming back, your death is on your own hands. No one here can change it."

"How dare you!" Eggman snarled.

"_If all are decided_," the angel moved her eyes from Eggman to the group and back, "_I will be leaving._"

The wind once more picked up. The emerald shone it's light as the angel began to raise her arms.

"No wait!" Eggman called out in a last attempt to redeem himself. His last cry was unheard. Amy stood speechless as she saw the angel disappear along with Eggman. She wondered if they had done the right thing. Anyone, even Charmy, could've saved Eggman, yet no one had done a single thing. Their figures quickly faded in the flashes of light.

The following calmness seemed empty, as if the preceding events had never happened. Instantly, all artificial wind ceased as the air freshened. Amy finally realized with the warmthness swarming her that it was over. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, a parade maybe, but now everything was too still.

"Is that it?" she questioned the silence.

Shadow pulled out his emerald. "I presume for now. I can already feel the chaos energy levels balancing out," he twiddled the emerald over his fingers. "Chaos Control!" Shadow commanded, flashing himself from the ground to on top of the Master Emerald.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, raising a fist and marching up to the emerald. "Get down from there! It's sacred!" Shadow raised a bored eyebrow before shrugging. He casually jumped off, landing perfectly on his feet.

"I guess that's settled."

Amy jumped slightly at the sudden voice at her side. Her mood brightened slightly when she saw a familiar face. "I didn't even notice you guys were here."

Enzo grinned. He cracked his knuckles, "Rouge called me this time. We all came to kick some robot butt." Amy looked over and she saw all of Enzo's friends. She hadn't seen them all together since the volleyball game at the beach.

"What happened at that anyways?" Amy asked, feeling disconnected from the world since going through the portal.

Ash stepped forward with his sister. Both of their quills stuck out slightly from moving so much. Ash began speaking as he patted down some of his fur, "Well half way through we weren't certain which side would win. We were taking them out fast but there were just so many robots. Then a few of them just started acting... strange. It was as if they didn't know what side to attack so they just attacked everything. Soon, all of them were acting like that. It was unbelieveable. Quickly, his army just killed itself."

"I think Knuckles said it had to do with the chaos energy," Persephone added.

Amy nodded her head in agreement. "For a long time the power has been wacky around here," she informed them.

"And during that time Cryssi got away," Rouge snarled as she came up beside Amy. She punched her own palm in anger. "We only got to see the last glimpse of her disappearing into the woods."

"What do you think will become of her?" Cream wondered, hoping that Cryssi wouldn't become a big problem in the future.

"Honestly," Sonic came up to the other side of Amy, "that's a problem for another day." He tossed his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side. "If I had to guess, I think Cryssi is done here, and if she ever does want to come back, we _will _welcome her." Sonic gave a warning look at Rouge, knowing that she is more than willing to hold a grudge.

Normally Rouge would have made a retort, instead she arched her eye brows at Sonic and Amy. The pointed at his arm around the other hedgehog, "And what exactly is this?"

For once, Amy didn't actually over think Sonic's touch. It felt safe and natural to her. For the first time in a while, everything was right.

"Well," Sonic tapped his chin twice to emphasize he was working on his thought process, "when two beings are infatuated with one another, it is common to show simple signs of affection, this would include one putting their arm around the other." Sonic looked down at Amy, giving her a charming wink.

Aleena smiled lovingly at her son. Her fretting over Sonic was done.

"When exactly had this started?" Rouge interrogating, hiding her shock unlike the others.

"Let me think," Sonic scratched the back of his head. "How long ago had it been since we were at the garden?"

Amy grinned at Sonic. She had worried that after his truth was revealed, he would change. It was relieving to see that he remained his witty self. "About 10 minutes," Amy suggested.

"Garden?" she could faintly hear Tails echo.

"Long story," Sonic briefly said. Amy knew it was a tale that no one will hear.

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "We just saw a giant angel and all you want to talk about is Sonic's love life."

"I don't blame her," Sonic quipped, "compared to saving the world, almost dying, Eggman now forever gone, and finding out that you all somehow know about my past," the blue hedgehog fake coughed, "Shadow- my love life is still a tiny bit more interesting." Amy jokingly shoved Sonic off of her. He made the atmosphere playful.

"It's probably because he's a prince," Charmy muttered, not expecting to actually be heard.

"Nah," Amy shook her head, "I still liked him when he was just homeless."

"Technically I still am homeless," Sonic mentioned.

Knuckles looked over to Shadow, "Are we really just going to pretend that we didn't just have to destroy over a thousand heaps of junk metal."

"Quick complaining," Shadow snapped, folding his arms over his chest and observing the light scene.

Rouge latched onto Knuckles, ignoring the fact that he was a pouting grown up. Rouge lightly slapped his cheek, "Don't sulk, just enjoy the happiness."

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><p>Eventually, everyone began to split to find some peace for the rest of the day. Amy thanked Enzo for everything before sending him on his way with the rest of his friends. Team Chaotix reported that the power instances were no longer being reported from headquarters. Knuckles and Rouge went to work right away to return the Master Emerald to it's rightful place. Knuckles complained since it was mostly him carrying it and Rouge just tagging along.<p>

Amy, Sonic, Tails, Cream, Shadow and Aleena all sat around a table at the comforting diner. Amy still wasn't growing sick of the vintage place even though she had to work there five days a week, she even had an early shift the day before.

"I know it's sudden, but I'll be leaving tomorrow," Aleena announced. "Even though your brother is rightfully on the throne, I still have a lot of work. I'm certain that almost everyone isn't convinced that my months away had to do with a 'business trip.'"

"How are you getting back to the castle?" Tails curiously asked. He would be more than happy to offer a fly on a helicopter, but he was aware that the queen didn't want to make a scene in her kingdom.

Aleena smiled at her son, "Sonic and I briefly talked it over and he said it was okay if I had a few selected people come by to pick me up."

"Like who?"

"Just a couple royal guards."

Sonic sighed loudly. "Just a warning," he half groaned, "a couple actually means about 50. They can get really protective."

"Interesting," Shadow commented, "for 'protective' guards, they really did let you disappear for over 7 years easily." Cream giggled. Both her and Tails smiled at Shadow. The dark hedgehog pretended to not notice. He wasn't sure how he felt about the two finally deciding to warm up to him. He hoped they wouldn't expect for him to hang around on a daily basis, if they did then Shadow would've preferred for them to fear him.

"The kingdom is still behind in technology," Aleena noted, "not that we are unable to gain the sources needed that would really help us, but more so that the people as a whole prefer life this way. I do not complain as becoming technologically advanced at this time would be very costly. We would go from being rich to barely middle class if we got everything in one heap now."

"Her way of covering the fact that my whole family isn't good with computers," Sonic added. His mom gave him a scolding look, which he did his best to ignore.

"Will you ever come back to visit?" Cream asked with a hopeful expression.

Aleena glanced at Sonic, silently asking him if it would be okay for her to return. "She will whenever she has the time to stay for at least a week," Sonic answered for her.

"I have to admit, Sonic," Tails smiled impressively, "it's remarkable that you've managed to keep this a secret from us."

Sonic nonchalantly shrugged. He mindlessly played with a spoon on the table. "I didn't do anything. I just never talked about it." Sonic picked up the silverware and pointed the rounded end at Tails, "If you really tried to research me you probably would've found something. Of course no one ever thinks that their friend is actually a runaway prince."

"Knuckles did have a point," Amy dully noted. "What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Cream asked, confused as to what Amy was expecting.

Amy tilted her head, wondering how her strange friends could think nothing of the events that had happened earlier in the day. "Eggman would've taken over the world but his plan just... failed. The entire problem almost solved itself after the angel came and took Eggman away."

"I forgot that this was your first time doing something like this," Sonic said with a sudden realization.

"This kind of stuff happens all the time," Tails shrugged. "Actually, it happens a lot more often than it has been lately. Usually we stop a guy like Eggman once a month, it's been a slow year I guess."

"After it happens we just go on with our lives," Cream smiled around the table. She was happy that her three closest friend were there with her. As usual, everything worked out in favor of the rabbit.

"Seriously?" Amy asked in disbelief. Tails and Cream nodded their heads eagerly.

Shadow also nodded his head once. "Get used to it," he sighed, "everyone gets dragged into Team Sonic."

Sonic's grinned widened, "Thanks Shady!" He reached over to playfully punch Shadow on the shoulder, pausing for a second when he noticed Shadow's glare. "It's about time someone noticed that this group is called Team Sonic, and from you of all people is really flattering."

"Can it!"

"All of this violence isn't uncommon," Aleena mentioned, ignoring the banter between the two male hedgehogs. "Maybe in the city it's different, but a lot of the more 'creative' villains like to start in small places." Aleena held up an index finger for a mini lecture, "You shouldn't underestimate any of them. They can actually br a lot more powerful than they seem at first glance. Like that Eggman guy."

"Can't believe he really wanted to kill me," Sonic muttered.

Shadow scoffed at that comment. "A lot of people tried to kill me before, even entire armies. One old man is virtually nothing."

"That's true," Aleena agreed.

Sonic feigned being insulted, "My own mother won't even take my side!" Amy sympathetically patted him on the back.

Aleena rolled her eyes at her son's tactics, "I've had entire kingdoms try to attack me. Even though our kingdom isn't large, it's still popular enough to have a fair amount of enemies."

"It's weird hearing all of this 'kingdom' talk," Tails pulled on his ears. The new information of Sonic still hadn't fully sunk into the fox, even hours later.

"So many of the townspeople had judged me because I came from the city," Amy almost rolled her eyes at the memory, "I wonder what they would say about a rich boy from a castle."

"No one's opinion of Sonic should change," Cream smiled up at her hero, "no matter what, he will always be our Sonic."

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><p>Sonic hadn't lied when he mentioned that just a few guards to Queen Aleena was actually a lot more. Amy would've guessed that there was some sort of convention going on. Each knight seemed to be wearing a well made costume. Amy wondered if she could buy one online.<p>

Her and Sonic sat on the sidelines, watching the queen be pampered. Amy sat at the base of a tree, using it as a back rest. Sonic relaxed on a high branch. One of his legs dangled over the edge, he gracefully swung it back and forth.

Even in the heat, the blue hedgehog put on jeans and a hooded jacket. He pulled up the hood to hide his present blue fur. Sonic had insisted on hiding his identity.

"You must be dying in that," Amy commented. She stood, dusted off the back of her dress, and turned to climb up the tree herself.

Sonic rolled up the sleeves, pulled them down, only to roll them up once more. "It is a bit warm," Sonic frowned.

Amy giggled. Sonic reached down a hand to pull her up to the last branch. "You know you could've watched her leave through a window or something," Amy suggested the most reasonable solution. Of course Sonic always preferred to do things the hard way.

"Not interested," Sonic quickly dismissed the idea, not admitting it would have been better. "Besides," Sonic carelessly twisted a strand of Amy's quills around his finger, "I really do prefer the view from here."

"You can barely see them."

"Hush." Amy and Sonic watched the small dot of Aleena retriev into a car. Several towns people, unaware of what was going on, waved goodbye to the older woman. Sonic had a feeling that his mom was looking directly at him through the window. It already felt like forever since she had last held on to him and refused to let go. Sonic was embarrassed that morning when his mother just wouldn't stop gushing over him.

Sonic couldn't blame her. He didn't mean it in the egotistical manner that most of his comments came from, but more of now knowing how he made his only remaining parent feel. Sonic had to admit he felt guilty for making his mom pretend that he had gone missing, she basically lied to his entire family and everyone else for his sake.

"I think I'll tag along," Sonic spoke as if he had just made up his mind at that very second. Amy snapped her head up at him. "Only temporarily," Sonic quickly added.

Amy tilted her head. She looked down at the retreating forces, "You mean go with her?"

Sonic moved his hand away from Amy's hair. He instead pressed his palm against her, mentally comparing how small Amy's looked without her gloves or bracelets on. Their fingers interlocked as Sonic soothingly brushed his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand. Amy blushed and forced for her internal fan girl to fade away.

Sonic pulled on a small smile, "I think I owe it to her. It's about time I come out clean."

"Wouldn't it be a big deal if you suddenly announced that you were actually alive?" Amy could just imagine how an entire kingdom would celebrate after the return of their long gone prince. This idea of Sonic in a crown and fancy coat seemed unnatural. She laughed slightly at the image in her head.

Sonic arched an eyebrow but didn't make a comment. "I'll stay hiding," Sonic pulled Amy so she sat facing him with a leg on each side of the branch. "It's not hard to stay out of their sites. I don't doubt that it'll be revealed to only the top priorities, I just hope classified information stays classified." Sonic sighed as he looked out to the retreating group that was already almost out of sight. "Also, I need to clear the air with my siblings."

Amy kept forgetting that Sonic was actually the youngest in his family. It was new to imagine him with any family. "Do you mean you're going now?"

"Not at this very second," Sonic smirked, knowing that she didn't want him to leave. "I will most likely tonight. The sooner the better."

Amy frowned, "Why do you have to go right away?"

"Because I have so much to say."

"What do you mean?"

"Things I need to say but can't right now. I have to wait until I get back."

"Just tell me now."

Sonic shook his head, "I wanna talk when I get back, I'll have more time then."

Amy rolled her eyes, "Just tell me now."

"I'm not just going to say 'I love you' and then leave." Amy grinned. "Dammit."

Her cheeks reddened. Amy could feel herself internally explode. She rested her forehead on his chest and spoke quietly, "You love me?"

There was a small, unnoticeable pause, "I think I do." Sonic then added, "Yes."

Amy looked up at him with a small smile. Her sudden burst of courage pushed her forward. Her lips pressed against Sonic's and in the instant contact they fit more perfectly than a completed puzzle. Sonic let her mouth soften against the pink hedgehog's. Through the entire kiss he kept his eyes wide.

"I think I love you too," Amy breathed.

Sonic chuckled while raking his fingers through his quills. "You know there's something that's been kind of bugging me."

Amy tilted her head slightly, her smile slowly disappeared. "What is it?" she asked, worried that she was doing something wrong.

"You mentioned earlier that you had seen Sally, what's that about?"

Amy realized that she had never actually explained to Sonic that his dead girlfriend liked to visit her in a dream state. She wondered how such an important factor could have slipped her sigh before smiling slightly. "Sorry," she apologized, "you of all people should've known."

Once Amy began her story, she couldn't stop. It started in her small apartment, right around the time she graduated. It was a challenge to describe what it felt like when she had talked to Sally. Sonic stayed silent as he listened to Amy. Even when she quoted Sally, he remained still. Amy didn't see any signs of grief in Sonic's face.

Hearing her retell all of the events she experienced up to date seemed rather bizarre to Amy. If she hadn't lived through it herself, she wouldn't have believed a single tale. Amy was glad that she had, she wouldn't want to live any other way.

"This would make a good book," Sonic laughed, throwing Amy off guard.

She grinned in return, "As if anyone would believe it."

"Can you include a quote for me in it?" Sonic asked while grabbing Amy's hand once more.

"Anything you want," Amy promised.

Sonic tilted his head back. He studied the rays of the sun slide through the leaves of the tree. "You know that saying 'it is better to have loved and lost than to of never loved at all?'"

Amy nodded her head slowly, "I've heard of something like that."

Sonic looked back at her. She was right in front of him, here in the present. Her green eyes was radiating at him. "Well I believe it is better to have never loved at all." Sonic stared at Amy, waiting for her to change her expression. "Or at least I used to believe that."

Amy kissed him once more, it was softer and sweeter than any kiss Sonic had ever had. He forced himself to break it for a moment.

"I was wrong."

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><p><strong>Epilogue is next chapter. It will be out this weekend and prepare for the famous author's note and blah blah blah...<strong>

**Sonic is such a boy, making things so complicated.**


	33. Epilogue

**Here it is! I have to admit this feels weird BUT I am happy to start my new story that will be posted soon so if you like my writing feel free to check it out. I'll be coming out with two stories but one is fairly shorter so I'm just going to do that one first.**

**Before that happens, I want to thank anyone who had followed, favored and reviewed my story! Every comment from just a critic to support really helped fuel me when writing. Even at times when I felt almost stuck I still wanted to continue writing for all of you lovely people. I liked writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

**I've tied up loose ends but after this if there are any questions about the story I'll be glad to answer any.**

**Chapter: Epilogue**

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><p>Sonic opened, closed, then opened his eyes once more. It felt unnatural to be sleeping in a castle. After last night he had arrived too late to see his older siblings. With nothing better to do, Sonic roamed around the castle. It was hard as he couldn't see any of the occupied wings. After Aleena caught him she was ecstatic that he wanted to come clean to the family, but just like the flip of a switch she became very strict and ordered for him to stay out of everyone's sight. Sonic was disappointed that he couldn't even visit his old room or any places where he was usually found at as a child.<p>

Nothing had changed overall in the castle. Sonic was almost disappointed that it was the same old colors with the same old memories. The large windows still stretched all the way from the ceiling to the floor, only now they somehow looked smaller than before. It wasn't as if Sonic had grew much from when he was 16. Sonic realized that after battle robots and traveling through an ark in space that could easily be doubled the size of the castle, everything does seem to get smaller.

He had quickly lost interest in the empty wing and returned to one of the spare rooms that Aleena had pointed him to. It was one of the generic rooms that was rarely ever used. The carpet was noticeably more plush than the one in the hallway, he knew that people rarely walked into the room. There was a fireplace with a clear mantle at one side of the room and a large lonely bed at the other. Through the traditional, large windows the moonlight smeared the colors of the room. Only the bed sheets were the closest things to Sonic's old room: blue.

Sonic retired to lay on the bed. It was cold and he sunk into the mattress. Sonic didn't even bother to pull the blankets over him as a protection from any fear of the dark or a source of warmth. The blue hedgehog spread out his arms and legs. The feeling of none of his limbs dangling over the edge made him realized that this bed was unreasonably large. He didn't like it one bit. It made him feel too alone in this world.

Sonic wondered if he could selfishly go home, to _his_ home, now and see _his_ Amy. It had only been mere hours since he had last seen the girl and he missed her already. Tails had told Sonic that he should start thinking before he acted. If Sonic wasn't actually trying to listen to his best friend, he would have ran home and just left Aleena to tell the truth to Manic and Sonia.

Sonic couldn't stop thinking of how both of them were in the same building as him, unaware that his presence still even existed. Sonic felt slightly uncomfortable, not knowing if they had changed much, or maybe they'd hate him when they found out the real story. He could already feel the tension in the air, even though it was only him.

Manic had became king not too long ago, or from what Sonic had heard from his mother. Through that time, he must've grown up from just an annoying older brother. Manic had to be given lessons on how to properly act. Even though the green hedgehog never showed it, Sonic knew that being first in line for the throne meant all of the lessons were even more strict. Now that Sonic thought of it, he lived a life of playtime and got away with having to serve the kingdom without a choice.

Sonia, who he hoped was still strong willed and dogged, also would have eventually gone through an intense finishing school while also having to balance the roles as a prince and advanced self defense. Teenagers of the modern days could barely handle high school.

Sonic knew that this castle life was not normal, nor was Emerald Town but it was strange in a way that suited him. He, regrettably, began to get a feeling that he couldn't wait to leave.

Sonic opened, closed, then opened his eyes once more. It felt unnatural to be sleeping in a castle.

He never actually drifted into a deep sleep. Somewhere in the night Sonic found himself sitting on the ground with his back up against the foot of the bed. He twiddled his thumbs as time drawn out. His green eyes gazed at the light on ground as it slowly moved across the room from night to early sunlight.

After a certain hour Sonic's tired feeling was replaced by plain boredom. He waited for what seemed almost as long as forever for his mom to return. He desperately was becoming more and more anxious to see it siblings. Soon he became antsy. Sonic stood in place while bouncing in place. He whistle the familiar tune of Silver Wind, not even aware at first that he still had memorized his favorite childhood lullaby.

Eventually, Sonic peeked out into the hallway. Time seemed to have froze down the hallway, despite the constant tick of an unlocated clock. Sonic could even make out the undisturbed dust particles the floated by the rays of the sun.

He cautiously stepped out into the hallway, aware that it being the day meant that more people were up and about the castle than last night. Other than himself, no other living being was around. Sonic was alone as he was last night.

With an edgy attitude, Sonic decided to "explore" a little more. He ignored the fact that he is supposed to be dead to this entire kingdom. Sonic looked around the corner of the hallway and down another one that shrunk the further away from him it went. He was almost certain that going this direction would lead him to a place with any significance.

Sonic walked steadily on his way, not finding the necessity to run for once. As he looked at the large doors along the walls, he saw the resemblance between this dimension and the one the angel had came from. Sonic wondered if it was made purposely to look like his home, he assumed that was the case. The blue hedgehog wondered if he would ever fully understand why. Of course he didn't know exactly what he was questioning.

Sonic stopped for a second and stared at a door. So many times before he had pictured seeing Sally die in his head. Actually seeing it in the other world had made something in him snap. Surprisingly, he no longer felt guilty, just a little numb. He wondered if he opened the door this time what he would see. Sonic knew that it wouldn't be Sally. He no longer needed the satisfaction of seeing her.

Just to prove a point, Sonic thrust the door opened. As soon as the door swung open a woman shrieked before Sonic could even get a glimpse into the room. He saw a quick flash of two workers in bed together. Sonic knew that it most likely wasn't the proper moment for a knight and maid to be, as Knuckles would say, "getting it on" while they're supposed to be working.

The knight clumsily reached at the bed sheets the cover his cheek that just mooned Sonic. "What the hell?" his croaked voice yelled.

"I told you we shouldn't have done this," the girl snapped while pushing him off of her.

"Oh- okay," Sonic muttered, slightly dumbfounded between the short exchange of workers. He turned to blindly find the door handle to return back to his temporary room as soon as possible.

"Do I know you?" The girl's voice sounded truly curious.

Sonic peeked between his fingers to find the now covered woman staring directly at him. "No," Sonic said flatly. He slammed the door shut, blocking off the girl before she realized who he was.

He turned to bolt out of there, only to stop short in front of Aleena. She held an aggravated look while shaking her head slowly at Sonic. Her ceremonial dress told Sonic that she had just gotten back from a morning meeting.

"Did you just run into someone?" Aleena whispered.

Sonic nodded his head. "Well, I guess it's more _someones_," Sonic added.

Aleena rolled her eyes and ushered Sonic quickly back down the hallway. "I requested for your brother and sister to meet me here," Aleena whispered as she dragged him along her side.

"Do you know what you're going to say to them," Sonic asked. The dirty imagine in his head was already gone.

Aleena cracked a grin. "I'm going to do what you always do," she stopped in front of the bedroom door. "I'm going to wing it." The door swung open as Sonic walked back in. Aleena stayed in the hallway, but continued to speak to him through the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to just tell the entire kingdom that I'm alive?" Sonic asked as he stood in the middle of the room, not looking at anything in particular.

"Yes," Aleena confirmed almost immediately. "I'm not saying that Manic and Sonia won't be, but the kingdom would be very displeased if we told them the truth. If we just mention that you came back after being missing for years, then you'll be expected to stay."

Sonic thought about theoretically staying. The idea wasn't at all appealing. He would have to work all the time and wouldn't be able to freely visit all of his friends. This life tied him down to something he didn't want to be. "Good point," he finally said.

Aleena quickly hushed him. Through the door he could faintly hear her greet someone. There were two new voices, Sonic had to assume were his sisters. He was suddenly unsure what to do with himself. Sonic looked around the room, wondering what to do with himself. He felt out of place just standing in the middle of the room.

"There's something I need to tell you two," Aleena slowly walked her two older children to the door.

Sonic heard a more feminine voice, "Can't this wait? I have a meeting in 20 minutes." That had to be Sonia. As always, she sounded more demanding towards anyone.

"Why are we over here?" a third voice, more casual than Sonia's, wondered out loud.

Sonic sighed in preparation for his siblings. He wasn't aware that they had heard him until Sonia spoke up, "Did you hear that?"

"Is someone in the room?" Manic asked right after her.

In the short time Aleena didn't even get the chance to speak. Sonic desperately wanted to bolt. He already knew that this wasn't going the way Aleena had intended.

Suddenly the door was opened. Sonic was able to see his sister before she even had the chance to process him. She had long grown out of her childish face and figure. She, not surprisingly, chose to wear golden pants over a royal dress. Some things never change.

Manic walked right into the back of Sonia, who had stopped dead in her tracks. He blinked a couple times in confusion before looking over her head. "Sonic?" Manic asked in utter astonishment. He took a step back while wondering if he actually hadn't woken up this morning and was still sleeping.

"Hey," Sonic said awkwardly. For once he couldn't think up a witty comment on the spot.

Sonic slowly approached him. She cautiously raised her fingertips to his cheek, checking to see if her hand would pass right through him. Her slim digits brushed over his skin. Sonia awed expression vanished.

In a second Sonic went from uncomfortable to frightened. Her small hand laid a huge smack right across his face. Sonic's head snapped to the side. He ignored the sting on the side of his face and focused on how impressed he was with the strength of his sister.

"I guess I deserved that," Sonic put a lot of breath in his words.

"What the hell?" Sonia more demanded as she glared at her younger brother. "We haven't seen you in years and all you say is 'hey'?"

Manic stepped up beside her. His traditional goofy smile was no longer plastered across his face. Sonic wondered if his brother had grown out of being rebellious and into a replica of his father. He sure hoped that wasn't the case.

"Why are you hiding in an empty wing?" Manic interrogated. His voice was now a soothing deep sound. The last time Sonic heard Manic he was going through puberty, every other word he had said would crack like fragile glass.

The two siblings bombarded Sonic with questions. Somewhere half way through Sonia started crying. Sonic didn't have any time to answer. He tried to reach out to his sister but every time he took a step forward she would angrily swat him away.

Aleena spoke up to get control over her kids. "Quiet!" she ordered in her angry mother tone, which was far more scary than an angry queen. The three, who were all now grown adults, immediately silenced before their mother. "The first thing you guys do is fight! I should send all of you to your rooms! Why can't we just be a happy family for once? Sonic has some things to say as I'm sure you two do as well. So make up and no yelling!"

As soon as Aleena was finished Sonia launched herself forward. She squeezed her arms around Sonic's neck, pulling him into a death hug. Sonic who was choking, managed to bring his arms up and around her. After a moment Sonia opened to hug to allow Manic to join. The three hedgehogs were together once more.

"Okay," Sonic sighed, "I guess it's time for me to tell you guys the truth."

* * *

><p>Amy stood behind the glossy counter of the diner. It was a slow day and she had already counted today's earnings 20 times. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. She was currently doodling over the old receipts that went unused.<p>

In the corner was a sloppy drawing a Cryssi with a giant question mark over her face. It had been almost a month since the accident yet no one had heard a thing from her. Amy's best guess was that she had ran away to start a new life. Amy was no longer frustrated with the dog. If that was what she wanted, Amy was happy for her, or at least as happy as she could push herself to be.

Across the thin paper were a bunch of emeralds. Some were bigger than others. Of course the most prominent one was the Master Emerald. Rouge has been ranting lately how Knuckles is refusing to leave his spot next to the powerful jewel. The red echidna isn't taking any chances.

Lastly, in the center of the page was a giant heart. An arrow pierced the heart diagonally. In the center of the heart Sonic's name was written neatly. Amy was currently working on bolding the border of the heart, even though it was already the most eye catching thing on the paper.

Amy would be lying if she said that she wasn't constantly thinking about the blue hedgehog. Sonic had never specified how long he would be, but by now he could be back at literally any minute. Amy had thought it would be easy after the first day, but she was wrong. After the first week she realized that she actually spent more time with Sonic than anyone else, even more time with him than Cream. Every moment she spent alone or just sitting around would've been spent with Sonic.

The pink hedgehog tried her best to keep herself busy. She spent more time with Shadow. To her though it felt like talking to a brick wall, a brick wall that snapped snarky comments every hour or so. Shadow had said he didn't mind Amy hanging around him. He was just doing a lot of work cleaning out Eggman's base.

Amy also hung around Tails. She tried to stay away from him and Cream when they were together. She couldn't help but feel as if she was intruding something even though they were always begging her to tag along with them. The hedgehog knew that they pitied her in her endless boredom of waiting for Sonic. She wondered if they could tell how much she was longing to kiss him again.

Amy had even gone to the extent of helping Team Chaotix on their "missions." Most of the time it was calls from elders thinking that their house was haunted. The only way to truly disperse their worries was to pretend that there was actually a ghost while fixing the leaky pipe.

The girl chewed on the inside of her cheek. She didn't know what she would do in the next hour. Amy really didn't want to have to go home alone. She wondered if she would be deemed insane if she decided to find a blue chao to hang out with and coincidentally nickname it Sonic. Sonic the Chao.

Amy felt embarrassed just from thinking that way. Was it possible to truly miss a person this much? She had already gone 18 years of her life before without Sonic. Now she was more dependant on the blue hedgehog than ever.

She dropped the pen and groaned. Amy couldn't muster enough energy to bother picking it up. She rubbed her face hoping that the tired feeling could just be washed away.

As soon as the second hand deemed that it was 5 O'clock, Amy rang out. She was more than ready to spend another night laying across her couch purposely watching the worst movies she could find. Somehow those movies were the best. One cliche after another running through a predictable plot would be the highlight of her night.

Amy felt lonely walking up to the empty house. She sighed to herself as she pulled out her keys. They harmoniously jingled as she fiddled with them, trying to find the right one. Of course Amy had to drop them. She bent to pick them up... but someone had beat her to it.

"I see you are as graceful as ever, Ms. Rose," a charming voice chimed from over her shoulder.

Amy instantly knew that voice. She spun as much needed to come face to face with the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog, her Sonic. Sonic laughed as she clung to his torso and buried her face into his chest. He still smelled the same, only somehow cleaner.

"You're back," Amy said.

"Very observant."

Amy rolled her eyes. "And you're here to stay, right? You won't go running off?"

Sonic pulled away. His green eyes twinkled more than ever as her flashed her his traditional lopsided grin. "This is home, I'm not leaving here. Plus, if I decided to throw a tantrum and run off then I'll be sure to take you with me."

Amy couldn't help but smile until it hurt. Their hands remained intertwined as Amy unlocked her house and stepped inside. The door closed behind them, shutting out the world and all it's problems as the two hedgehogs remained in their own, neither having the need to seek something they've already found.

* * *

><p><strong>The end... or is it? I'm just kidding it's over.<strong>

**So at the end of summer when I come out with "Blind to Paradise" you should totally check it out.**


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